


Starting Over

by SophiaBoo



Category: Rhett & Link
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-17
Updated: 2017-08-17
Packaged: 2018-12-16 08:41:07
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 23
Words: 40,869
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11825115
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SophiaBoo/pseuds/SophiaBoo
Summary: First person multi-chapter about the reader starting to work as the new Social Media Manager for Mythical Entertainment. You meet a depressed Link Neal who's on the verge of divorce and you take on the task of trying to cheer him up.





	1. Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so this was my attempt at writing a self-insert story about a corny and as-realistic-as-possible romance with Charles Lincoln Neal (whom I would totally call 'Charles' in real life). I originally wrote it last year for a fandom friend so I blame the sex and corny bits on the fact that I really wanted to give her the best experience possible. Looking back on things (aka, 'rereading it') makes me wish I could rewrite some bits completely but I'll share a raw version with y'all, taking into account some of you will enjoy it that way but mostly due to laziness.  
> I based most of the drama on a past relationship I had so the inner chatter and overall conflict (once you get there) will seem kinda cliché but let's all run with it. Oh, and he has no kids in this because convenience.

I’d never dreamed to have a job in entertainment, so when my best friend sent over the link to a job offering at Mythical Entertainment, I frowned.

  
“What’s this, dude?” I started once I called her.

  
“An amazing job offer?” she replied.

  
“Can’t you read? They’re in need of a Social Media Manager.”

  
“Which you have been before!”

  
“Kinda. And ages ago, remember?”

  
“It’s Rhett and Link?” she tried.

  
“Oh, so that’s why? Look, I can’t go and pretend I know how to add just because I’ve seen numbers before.”

  
“That’s a great analogy. Now please send over your resume. Please?”

  
I sighed heavily.

  
The WhatsApp Web window on my laptop displayed a new message from her. She had sent another link, to a picture, this time. It was a bearded green-eyed man whom I knew to be called Rhett.

  
“Nice,” I told her, still on the call.

  
“I know, right? If I get to meet the man at least once, my life will be made.”

  
“I thought this was about finding me a freaking job, but I guess I was mistaken.”

  
“PLEASE.”

  
“Steph…”

  
“PLEASE.”

  
More sighing.

  
“You have nothing to lose, come on.”

  
She hit the right chord with that, so after a few minutes, my CV was sent and my longing for fried chicken drummettes, even stronger.

  
“You’ll love them,” was her final statement before I went to bed that night. Little did I know, her high hopes weren’t so ludicrous.

 

* * *

 

When Stevie Levine phoned me that Monday morning, I was still in my pajamas. Why bother getting up from bed when you know you don’t have to go to work until noon that day? I paused the GMM episode I was watching with a knot in my stomach. Rhett McLaughlin froze in the middle of a long speech about the future of human bodies, index finger up in the air, while Link Neal’s expression denoted how little he believed in the extravagant points his best friend and co-presenter was making.

  
I barely said anything other than ‘okay’ and ‘sure’ (probably a ‘that’s perfect’ here and there) and before I really knew what was going on, I had accepted a face-to-face interview with her for the following Thursday.

  
Was it prudent to tell Steph about it already? Didn’t seem like it. Link Neal was still looking at me with that disproving face so I decided to take it as a sign and got out of bed to then brush my teeth as my mind began to fill up with what ifs.

  
Unless the assigned tasks proved impossible for me to perform, I couldn’t see why not to move forward with the process. When Thursday arrived, I kept repeating that phrase inside my head during the bus ride right until I pressed the doorbell. I let a few moments pass before I wondered if I was at the wrong place, but the address matched the one Stevie had given me. I was already checking the notes on my phone when a female voice said: “Yes? Hello?”

  
I took a step closer to the speaker, even when I knew it wasn’t really necessary, and replied: “Uh, yes, I’m here for the job interview?”

  
“Sure, come on in.”

  
The loud noise that I heard next indicated (I hoped) I had to push the front door in order to get in. Once I did, I found myself in a well-lit room and I soon learned I was in the right place; a silver “Mythical Entertainment” logo decorated the wooden wall behind the glassesed woman, who was now sitting behind the main reception table and looking at me with curiosity.

  
“Thanks for coming. ID?”

  
“No problem. Sure.”

  
I handed it to her and resumed my study of the place. I could see a kitchen peeking in front of me, followed by a dining room with leathered seats at my right. The left side presented a bunch of heavily stuffed tables, each one had a computer on it. I concluded that was the crew’s office area.

  
“If you please fill this form up and have a sit? Stevie will be here in a few minutes.”

  
Stevie Wynne Levine was just as beautiful as she looked on the show. Messy hair, crooked cap, old loose t-shirt and all, she was hard to miss in a good way.  
“Hi!” she greeted me with a gentle smile. “I’m Stevie.”

  
The introductions weren’t really necessary, but I found myself in need for spilling out as many words as I could in order to not let my nervousness show. I was so clearly failing at it.

  
We spent the next half hour inside a meeting room, talking about my little experience in the job position and other things I had done, which she found curiously interesting.

  
Get the job, checked.

  
She offered me a quick tour plus crew introductions and for a split second, I wondered whether the tall men were even there that afternoon. I decided I wasn’t going to ask her.

  
We started walking through a long hall, passing by at least half a dozen secret rooms. I quickly peeked into the only one that had the lights on, and wasn’t really surprised to see a bunch of clothes and hats (some of which I thought I recognized from my flashing viewing of the show during the week). When we reached the kitchen, a short sweet-faced guy turned and smiled before I could even remember his name.

  
“Hey, nice to meet you. You’re going to be replacing Jen, right?”

  
“Well, I’m glad you said ‘replace’ and not ‘steal her job’.”

  
It seemed it was really hard for him to stop smiling, so I couldn’t help but smile back the whole time.

  
“She kind of resigned so it’s not really your fault, anyway.”

  
“Well, thanks, then.”

  
“Look at you, Chase, already flirting with the new girl.”

  
The voice came from a bearded blond guy who appeared from behind the open fridge.

  
“I’m Eddie.”

  
“Hey, Eddie, I’m—“

  
“DANG IT, RHETT!”

  
“Calm down, dude, it’s not even that big of a deal.”

  
It only took me a few moments to realize I was in the same room as my new bosses. For some reason, the first thought that hit me was how Steph would’ve passed out in my position, and right after that, the feeling of wanting to be somewhere else, as the heated argument filled the air with an awkward silence.  
Both Rhett and Link stood still in the middle of the kitchen and for a couple more seconds no one said anything.

  
Stevie gave the pair a disappointed-mother look and proceeded to introduce me to them.

  
“‘New Social Media Manager’, huh?” the tallest one repeated. “I’m Rhett. Welcome to the team.”

  
I shook his big hand and Steph’s face came to my mind again.

  
Meet Rhett McLaughlin, checked.

  
“Thank you very much, it’s really nice to meet you.”

  
I looked over at Link, whose brow was furrowed. He attempted a smile which I failed to identify as either real or fake.

  
“Hi,” was all he said.

  
“Hey, Link.”

  
His eyes seemed lost when he looked back at the kitchen floor and I wondered what was broken in a man I already knew to be so cheerful. Rhett noticed his best friend’s attention drift off, so he suddenly clapped his hands together and exclaimed: “So, who’s in for burritos?”

  
Everyone in the room, plus most of the crew in the adjacent ones went ‘ME!’ and I instantly knew my time there was going to be a fun ride.

  
Link Neal didn’t join us for lunch that day, though. Or the next day, or the next.


	2. Part 2

Becca was making weird faces at Lizzie from her corner of the office, and the blonde didn’t appear to be very amused by it. When she caught my eye, she said in a soft voice: “Oh, you noticed too, didn’t you?”

  
“What do you mean?”

  
She sighed.

  
“That I’m having a shitty day?”

  
“I’m sorry about that. Can I ask why?”

  
“Me and a friend, we had an argument three days ago. She hasn’t talked to me ever since and I basically lost all hope in friendship.”

  
“That sure sounds like a shitty day.” I looked down, uncertain. “Speaking of… shitty days… I, um… Can I ask…? Um, do you know about…?”

  
“I can tell you all about it if you come by my office,” Stevie said from behind me. I turned to see her, confused.

  
“Am I fired?”

  
She laughed.

  
“No! Come on.” She gestured me to follow her across the room and into her office.

  
As soon as we entered and she closed the door behind me, I remembered the day I’d gotten the job. A week already felt like a month, somehow. Between hectic days of shooting and the promise of my first ever appearance on the show as Jen’s replacement, I passed out on my bed as soon as I got home every day. But it was a good kind of weariness, I thought; my work felt useful and my somewhat lame social skills were having a positive effect on a crew of people I already saw as potential friends.

  
The blonde Stevie, crooked Mythical Hat and big loose baseball jacket on, sat in front of me and gave me a mischievous look.

  
“What did I do?” I said.

  
“Link.”

  
“Uhh, don’t think I have.”

  
She chuckled.

  
“What about him?” I asked.

  
“Let’s say I noticed you staring at him.” Stevie’s high-pitched voice had an accusatory tone to it, but she was still smiling. I think I blushed.

  
“Oh, that… No, I was just wondering…”

  
“He’s not having the greatest of times right now, that’s why he seems so down. He usually has more energy than all of us put together.”

  
I frowned.

  
“And what’s going on?”

  
She looked at some random sheets over her desk. “Seems like his wife and him are on the verge of divorcing, but of course you didn’t hear it from me.”

  
She smiled again, but I couldn’t join her.

  
“That’s… awful.”

  
“Yup. It’s all a bit hush hush, but no one around here is stupid. Everyone kinda got the hint and they’re trying their best to keep him content.”

  
“To no avail, I see. He honestly looks like shit. I don’t know how he continues to come to work in that state…”

  
“Well, he insists in coming, it helps him a little bit.”

  
I pondered on it.

  
“We should have like a day out. A work outing. Go someplace nice, I don’t know.”

  
Stevie blinked a couple times.

  
I proceeded.

  
“Work might keep his mind occupied but he needs to stuff it with things he doesn’t usually do, so that his brain doesn’t go on autopilot and has time to think shit as a result. At least that’s the way my own brain works.”

  
She pursed her lips and nodded slowly in approval.

  
“Sure. I’ll see what I can come up with.”

I finally smiled.

“Why tell me, though?” I wanted to know at the time I got up from my seat.

“To be honest, I’m kinda desperate and I can already see you’re a big ideas girl, so…”

“In that case let me arrange the whole thing. I’ll get back to you by four.”

And with that I left.

I paused all my tasks for that afternoon to give my full attention to the mission. Making my new boss smile. Why? No idea. At the time it just seemed like the right thing to do, a simple act of kindness.

I quickly peeked at the Skype for Business window and saw he was available. The cursor hovered over his name hesitantly for a few seconds before going back to the Excel spreadsheet with a loud click.

Lizzie gave me curious looks for the two hours that took me to finish the schedule, but I remained silent the whole time.

By four, as I’d promised, I sent the document to Stevie and I waited.

Alex and Mike ran in the direction of the kitchen with what seemed to be hundreds of green apples.

A couple Tumblr posts caught my eye and I got to like three and reblog one to the Rhett and Link account before Stevie’s IM popped up in the lower right corner of my screen.

**STEVIE WYNNE LEVINE:**   
_Project ‘Making Link Neal Smile’ is go :)_


	3. Part 3

Monday came around for the second time and that morning the first autumn leaves covered our street, waiting to be stepped on.

I vaguely heard Morgan complaining about accidentally walking on well-hidden poop, but my eyes were on the six-foot tall glassesed man, whose blue eyes looked confused as Drew updated him on the team’s plan for the day.

“A work outing?” He repeated.

“What you heard, Link. We’re all coming. Emphasis on all.”

Link sighed loudly.

“Sure, I mean… I thought we were shooting at least two episodes today. Rhett?” He looked over at his best friend for help.

The bearded man rested a hand on his shoulder. “We can shoot those any other time. We are way ahead on the schedule for the month.”

Link seemed sceptic, but nodded as Mike and Alex appeared around the corner both sporting trainers and school bags on their backs.

We took off by foot, no personal cars allowed that day. Chase was the first to start the conversation and soon Rhett joined him by commenting random things about how the weather couldn’t stop us and how much he craved a good donut from Doughnut Hut. We stopped and grabbed a donut for everyone, Rhett and Eddie being the only ones to buy two.

We walked towards some park benches and ate our ‘healthy’ breakfast while holding separate conversations in groups of three or four. Link was surrounded by both Kevin and Ben, but despite his mild smile, he didn’t quite look like he was enjoying himself too much.

Before I even realized my feet were taking me there, I had made a place for myself in that circle. Kevin stopped in the middle of a sentence and looked at me, but as usual all my attention was Link’s.

I cleared my throat.

“How’s that donut?” I asked directly to him.

He frowned.

“It’s… not bad.”

“Want me to hold your coffee for you?”

He blinked rapidly.

“Thanks.” I grabbed his plastic cup and wrapped my hands around it to keep myself warm. Link took a big bite out of his chocolate donut.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Ben gesture at Kevin and they both backed away in the least smooth of ways.

“You guys have managed to put together a great bunch of people.” I told him. “I’m having a great time so far.”

“Yeah,” was all I could get from him. I grimaced. I reached for my printed schedule for the day and noticed him peeking curiously. “Was it you who planned all this?”

Our eyes met again and I felt a sudden tingly sensation in my stomach; he was smiling at me.

I tried to keep my cool.

“Yeah. We have a long day ahead so we might as well hurry!”

“Oh… Okay, then.” He finished his donut in a few more chunks and took his coffee back from my hands. “Thanks.”

“No problem, boss man.”

He chuckled.

I couldn’t decide which of the stops I was more excited about, but it was probably a tie between paintball and The Pie Hole. We had to take a few buses and taxis to get to some places, but the moods never went down from there. From time to time I’d catch Link’s eyes looking over at me, only to give him a full-face smile and get one in return, and I would often approach him as I’d done at the park to check on him. He would always raise his eyebrows and reply he was perfectly alright, but by the fourth time his words sounded a hundred percent sincere, so I patted his arm and walked away without asking again.

“D’you think I’m being too pushy? We barely even know each other,” I asked Stevie at the time Becca argued with a woman to get us our third taxi that day.

“Well, I think you’re definitely catching his attention,” was all she replied.

“Is that good or bad?”

“I dunno, find that out yourself.” She signaled with her head at something behind me. When I turned around I saw Link coming towards us with a light smirk.

“Rhett’s saying paintball’s next but I won’t buy it until I hear it from you,” he told me.

I consulted my list even though I knew it by heart.

“Yes! That’s right! And I think we already got enough rides.”

We jumped on the taxis like little kids boarding a school bus. I went first and Link sat next to me only a second after. Stevie was the last to jump on the back seat and Rhett hopped on the one on the front and gave the driver the address.

“Been a couple of years since I last went to one of these!” Rhett exclaimed excitedly.

“Really? You must have already forgotten how much it hurts,” Stevie commented.

“Is that a threat?”

“Totally.”

Link and I looked at each other wide-eyed and giggled.

We spent the whole taxi ride talking about paintball experiences. When Rhett jokingly mentioned how we ought to be careful with Link, I could feel the brunette sink in the seat.

“You mean the same guy who totally murdered you at Daytona about an hour ago?” I reminded him.

Stevie made sure to laugh as loud as she could at this.

Link turned to look at me and Rhett started rambling about how I couldn’t compare the two games at all, but I didn’t pay much attention. I could still feel Link’s gaze on my face as I meticulously observed my hands.

Turns out the one who everyone needed to go easy on was me. My fast running didn’t make up for my poor reflexes and I ended up covered in paint before I even got a hold of the game completely.

As I exited the field, I felt a hand on my shoulder.

“Hey,” Link called with a whispery voice.

“Hey, I think I went deaf,” I announced louder than necessary.

It was intended to be a funny remark, but he looked very serious when he said: “Are you okay? I think Alex went too hard on you. I’m sorry.”

His hand was still on my shoulder.

“I’m fine, I think,” I said as I rolled up the turn-ups of my ridiculously loose paintball pants.

I gasped as I noticed the ugliest bruises I’d ever seen on my skin.

“Shoot,” Link exclaimed and called my name. The weird sensation in my stomach came back.

“It’s okay. I heard Rhett say something about vinegar and warm water for potential bruises. I’m more worried about the pain itself.”

Link’s eyes searched mine as he bit his lower lip. I finally looked back at him. “Don’t worry, really. It’s nothing. You can go back. I’ll change and wait outside.” I took out my list. “Bowling’s next!”

“No,” he said, definitive.

“What d’you mean?”

“I mean,” he started, taking my backpack and throwing it on his back, “you’ll go and get changed and I’m taking you home.”

“Don’t be si--! Um, I mean. Link, boss man…” I tried joking.

“You don’t need to call me that,” he remarked, still dead serious. “Should’ve brought my car…”

“It’s really okay, I don’t—Okay.”

His eyes pierced mine and I knew it was a lost cause. I changed my clothes and went outside to join him again.

“No other bruises anywhere else, so… Good news, I guess.”

“Good,” he said. “I already told Rhett we were leaving, I hope you don’t mind.”

“I do, but you won’t let me stay, anyway.”

“Nope.”

I smiled a bit as we got outside and he raised a hand just after a taxi turned the corner in our direction, but it drove past us as if we were invisible.

“Can you please smile, at least?” I asked and I instantly felt my face go red.

The only thing I got in response was his blue eyes piercing mine for a third time in about fifteen minutes, this time in a different way. A smile appeared back on his face, though, and I sighed in relief.

“Good, that’s perfect.”

He seemed confused for a bit, and inquired: “D’you think you can get home before taking a painkiller or d’you want us to stop at a pharmacy?”

“I actually have some on me. I took all the precautions I could for the day, you see.” I showed him the contents of my bag and he suddenly seemed terribly amused by my person. “What?!”

“Nothing, just… Let’s get in.”

I never noticed a taxi had finally stopped right next to us. Once we made it in, I gave the driver my address and off we went. Link’s eyes were now on his own hands.  
I couldn’t expect him to stop thinking about his wife, but a part of me was desperate to grab his shoulders and shake the bad thoughts away.

“Link?”

“Yes?”

“I found something really crazy about you on ‘the internet’…”

He raised his eyebrows.

“You’ll have to narrow that down a bit.”

I made a dramatic pause.

“Is your first name really Charles?”

He froze for a second and then laughed out loud, startling the driver.

“I’m afraid it is,” he replied, running a hand through his already messy hair.

“I like it,” was all I said. He now scratched the back of his head, timidly.

We spent the following twenty minutes betting on which of our teams could be the winner out in the field, and who would be the one to get the most paint on themselves.

“I doubt anyone will beat me on that one, though,” I said. Another funny remark he could’ve found amusing, but didn’t very much. “Oh, just behind the red car, please.”

Link helped me up the few stairs before my front door and handed me my backpack.

“Thank you… Do you do this for all your employees?”

The question took me by surprise more than it did him. Link smiled playfully and replied: “Was all of today for Rhett, as well?”

I blushed profusely.

He continued: “You think I didn’t notice?” His tone was accusatory, but he was still smiling. I looked down. The pause that followed was indeed awkward. He finally asked: “Stevie?”

“Stevie,” I replied, and smiled a bit myself.

“Look,” he began, lowering his head so he could search for my eyes, “it’s alright.”

“I’m sorry if you feel uncomfortable with me knowing, I understand.”

“No, I… Look, I had a great time.”

I had seen the guy fake so many smiles that week that this time around I could tell he was being genuine. It wasn’t just the corners of his mouth lifting, or his cheeks puffing; his blue eyes joined in this time.

I limited my reply to a whispery ‘neat’.

“Thank you,” he finally said, and I knew that was it. I rummaged for my keys and opened the door, turning to Link for a last look. “Oh,” he continued. “I, umm… If you please give me your number, I… You know, just in case.”

“Sure.” He tapped the numbers I recited on his iPhone and after a few seconds we heard my own phone ring only once inside my pocket.

“There you are. Reach out if you need anything. Please.”

“I will. Thanks, Charles.”

I heard him chuckle as I walked inside.

Have Rhett and/or Link take me home, checked.

Exchange numbers with Rhett and/or Link, checked.

Make Link Neal smile, checked.


	4. Part 4

According to Abby, the guys would be at a meeting with some important company the whole morning, so when I saw Link’s IM pop-up on the corner of my screen it surely took me by surprise.

  
**LINK NEAL:**  
_Rough night, sorry I didn’t check on you. How do you feel?_

  
**ME:**  
_Morning, Link!_

  
**LINK NEAL:**  
_:)_

**ME:**  
_I feel better, actually. Painkillers and vinegar worked just fine._

**LINK NEAL:**  
_Amazing :)_

I typed a quick ‘How are you?’, but he showed offline just after that, so I deleted the whole thing with a sigh.

A new pop-up appeared, this time from Stevie.

STEVIE WYNNE LEVINE:  
He may have asked me your age, but you didn’t hear it from me.

I didn’t see Link for a few days after that. I didn’t need to be present for GMM shootings too often, so that meant seeing him even less.

It was a lazy Monday morning when I went to pick the mail from the post office. Dozens of letters, a couple of packages and even a huge frame (possibly fanart) were waiting for me and I wondered whether I could drive the latter safely back to the studio.

As soon as I returned and Mike helped me unload the mail, I started taking care of the sorting. I needed to keep my mind occupied and away from my broken-hearted boss. It shortly proved to be an impossible task, as most of the pieces of paper I went through had a big “Dear Rhett and Link” written on the top, and some of them even had printed pictures of the pair.

During the afternoon I worked on finishing writing the new Facebook contest idea I intended to hand over to Drew before the end of the day, but even though the remaining ideas were already very clear in my mind, I wasn’t able to type more than a couple of words without giving a flashing glance at Link’s name on my Skype for Business window.

'No cursing allowed in the videos.'

_Link Neal – Offline (50 minutes)_

'RandL merch visible is optional except in case of...'

_Link Neal – Offline (55 minutes)_

'Price to be shipped worldwide.'

_Link Neal – Offline (55 minutes)_

'Winners will be contacted via Facebook’s private messaging and will be required to respond within 30 days with their…'

_Link Neal – Available_

My mouse cursor hovered over his name for a few seconds before double-clicking on it. Link’s IM window opened and I swallowed.

I closed the window and shifted my position on the chair.

'… address.'

 _CTRL + S_. Aaaand ‘Send as attachment’.

I closed the Word document as well and jumped to my feet as the rest of the crew said their goodbyes for the day. I muttered a ‘bye’ or two to who I thought were Kevin and Chase (but could’ve easily been Daniela and Eddie). Stevie was the last one to leave, not without giving me a side hug and a sad smile. I took note to ask her about it that night.

The way to Rhett and Link’s office was full of obstacles that day, and still I managed to be in front of their closed door in a matter of seconds. My fisted hand ghosted a few inches from it for a few seconds and suddenly, as though he had read my mind, the tallest man I’d ever met greeted me with a furrowed brow.

“Is… Is Link there?”

“Umm… What do you need?”

I looked down at my feet. “I wanted to see him.” I didn’t get to see Rhett’s expression but it was surely a mixture of annoyance and surprise. He remained silent for a few moments and I hurried to add: “It’s alright.”

As I turned around I heard Link’s voice from the other side of their door but couldn’t make out what he said. Rhett kept his eyes on me as he replied: “Yup, it’s her.”

“It’ll be best if I just go home. Send him my love, ‘kay?” And with that, I left a very confused Rhett behind me.

The ride home felt eternal after only five minutes. The autumn breeze brushed my face through the open bus window. I closed my eyes.

What was it about the man…? I hesitated and shook my head as an attempt to clear my mind.

A failed attempt.

Link’s blue eyes were on my mind again. _Whatever._

What was it about him that kept me so captivated? At first, I tried to convince myself it was the sudden lack of contact after… whatever that was. The day we’d spent out was the only actual day in which we’d talked for more than ten seconds privately. That very afternoon I learned my worry and care for the man weren’t misplaced; he was nice and deserved good things but was that all? There were many other good men out there who were going through a tough time and deserved attention.

What was it about Link Neal that kept me so mesmerized? Why had I even gone to his office at all? I was a plain employee at his firm, a younger one at that. How could someone like me get his attention?

Stevie’s IM from a few days before popped into my head. He’d asked my age.

I shook my head again; the old lady next to me was staring now.

_Stop it. You’re doing yourself no favors with this. You should be thankful you have a job and you should stick to doing what you’re paid for. You’re not special at all, he just thought you were nice. Forget him._

My phone went off at that precise moment and both the old lady and I jumped sky high.

“I’m sorry,” I felt the need to say, for some reason.

“Well, I hope it’s good news, at least,” she replied. That made me laugh. It better be.

I looked at the name on the screen.

_Shit._

He said my name as soon as I hit the ‘Answer’ button and glued the phone to my ear.

“Hey,” I replied, trying to sound like my heart wasn’t racing or anything.

“You on your way home?” His voice was as weak as my knees. Good thing I was sitting down.

“Yup. ‘Bout to get there. You?” I didn’t really need to know where he was. I hoped my question wasn’t too intrusive, and yet he replied casually.

“I’m driving at the moment, you’re on speaker.”

“Oh.” And that was all I had. I needed to get my shit together.

Link Neal continued: “Listen… I’m sorry Rhett didn’t let you come in earlier, I—“

“Oh, no, no, it’s fine!” I interjected hurriedly. “I’m the one who’s sorry. I shouldn’t have—“

“Why shouldn’t you? Any crew member can come over at any time,” he interrupted me this time. “Listen,” he repeated. “He didn’t let you come in because I wasn’t… I wasn’t really… presentable at that moment.”

For some reason the first thing that came to my mind was...

“Were you naked or something?”

_Great, you said that out loud._

Link chuckled. “Nah.”

There was a pause. Finally, the penny dropped.

“Oh... I’m sorry, Link... I really am.”

“Nothing to be sorry about, just… I mean, thank you. For checking out on me, I… appreciate it.”

My poor heart.

I put together a phrase that sounded good in my mind, and hoped with all my strength it would also sound good aloud.

“Nothing to be thankful for, I’m just trying to be my… mythical best?” It definitely didn’t sound as I intended. I looked over at the old lady and she was glancing at me with a rather concerned face. I forgot she even existed as soon as I heard Link’s laughter on the other side of the line. “Great, you’re laughing at me,” I said, a playful tone in my voice.

“I’m not!” He shouted and kept on laughing. I joined him soon after. You know the feeling when you have such a stupid smile on your face that you’re able to feel it?

I looked out the window.

“I think I missed my stop,” I informed.

“Really? Are you far?”

“I don’t even know where I am, never been here.” I jumped outside and looked around. I was kinda new in LA and the bus had taken a turn I’d never been on it for, so now I was standing in the middle of a desert street with my backpack and Link’s concerned voice in my ear. “Sorry, come again?”

“I said if you want me to come pick you up.”

“Oh, no! It’s alright, I—“

“It’s getting dark already. I’m on my way.”

I made a face.

“You don’t even know where I am!”

“Then please tell me.”

I sighed. Why was this happening? And why was I enjoying it so much?

I gave him the address and he insisted on me waiting inside one of the shops, which I reluctantly did. It wasn’t even cold outside, there were no people around, no one to harm me.

_Come on, Link Neal, let me be the one to take care of you, instead._

When his car showed in my field of vision I left the smelly pet shop with a lopsided smile, he gave me a timid one in return. The mere sight of him made me anxious. He leaned over the passenger seat to unlock and open the door for me and I entered.

I was expecting him to drive away instantly, but instead he kept his eyes on me for a few moments.

“How’s your leg?” he whispered.

His question took me by surprise.

“Oh, it’s better. Thanks.”

“Good,” he smirked.

“And thanks for picking me up. This is embarrassing.” I shook my head and looked out the window as I put my seatbelt on.

“Don’t be silly, girl,” he started as we pulled off. “Just this morning I turned the wrong corner on our way to work. If it wasn’t for Rhett we’d probably be in Oakland by now.”

I frowned. “Well, at least you have your reasons to mess up.”

There was silence for at least a minute. Then, Link spoke again with a weary voice: “I’m the king of messing up.”

_Uh-oh._

If I had taken the right meaning out of his words, and I hoped I had, that was the first time he talked about the matter.

_Ask him._

My mouth opened and closed a couple of times before I made up my mind; his comment was an invitation for discussion after all.

“What… Um… What happened?”

We hit a red light while on a desert and dark street. He turned to see me.

“Just… Life, you know… Things got dull and I did nothing to save us. Or that’s what she says.”

I blinked rapidly. “What about her?”

“Her?”

“What did she do to save things?”

Link seemed like he was having difficulty breathing, yet he replied: “Find someone else?”

My heart sank. He looked away. That couldn’t be true.

“Oh, shit, I’m so sorry…”

“I failed,” he declared, his voice cracking. “Big time. But what can you do?” He now shrugged, I couldn’t believe my ears. “S’ppose it’s no fun anymore to be married to me after fifteen years.”

He turned his head back to me again and managed to give me a sad smile. I was able to see his bright blue eyes even despite the darkness inside the car. His face was stubbly and his hair a beautiful mess.

Yellow light.

_Careful._

“Link…”

_Careful._

“Mmm?” He raised his eyebrows in a curious and innocent expression.

Green light.

“Forgive yourself.”

Link’s eyes widened for a flashing moment, then, to my utter horror, they started filling with tears.

I gaped my mouth and without even thinking, my hands went straight for the one that was resting on his trembling knee. The hand I took was trembling too.

His sobs filled the air and I wanted them to stop. I squeezed his hand and my heart skipped a beat when he squeezed back. The glassesed man rested his head sideways on the seat and looked down in my direction, taking his glasses off and rubbing his eyes with his free hand.

“How can I even be myself again?” He cried quietly.

I felt I didn’t deserve his trust like that, but the man clearly needed an ear. It honestly could’ve been anyone; he just needed to let it out. I would have to thank him later for confiding in me, anyway.

“Link, listen to me… You are clearly not the same man you were all those years ago, and you won’t be in five years either.”

He looked up and he hiccuped. I continued: “Shit, it’s not your fault things didn’t work out.” I shook my head desperately. “I mean, I don’t have all the details (and I don’t need them), and it’s only your version I’m hearing, but… It takes two, Link. Don’t blame it all on yourself. It’s not fair.”

“That’s…” Hiccup. “That’s what Rhett says.”

“Well, he’s right.”

As the sobbing started to soothe, I took note of making sure to never hear Link cry again. His eyes were now red and puffy.

Pushing my luck a bit, I stroke the hand I was holding while I continued: “You have every right to love yourself and… let others love you.” I was half expecting him to flinch away from my touch, but he didn’t. “This is not the end, it just didn’t work this time. Allow yourself to be sad, but also to find happiness again. You are truly great, Link. Just… keep going.”

His face was that of a non-believer. He was giving me his full attention, which triggered my nerves more than a bit, but I managed to appear centered while I spoke my mind to him. And I believed every word.

He whispered my name and before I had the chance to add anything else, he stroke my hand back. I felt my face blush immediately and I cursed myself internally.

“I’m sorry for… you know…” He got my meaning right away and shook his head, but I was adamant. “I made you stop and waste ten minutes of your life on a dark creepy street; we still haven’t gotten to my apartment, and you have to drive all the way to yours afterwards.”

Link smiled as wiped away the tears. His hands went back to the steering wheel and we finally took off. After a few seconds he added in a very low voice: “It doesn’t feel like I’m wasting my time, you know.”

When we stopped on my street, I took a thorough look at Link’s face before saying: “Thank you, Charles.”

He leaned closer to me. “Thank you, I think I really needed that,” he said with a broken voice.

Hug Link Neal, checked.


	5. Part 5

_You can do this._

  
Stevie gave me a nod and I started walking with heavy feet until I got to my chair. I swallowed.

Rhett screamed his welcome line to me and I think I thanked him. Being on camera was not exactly my favorite thing, let alone speak in front of one, so when the blonde started to give a little more info to the audience, I could only giggle in response.

“Tell us a bit about yourself,” Rhett demanded.

The smaller one next to me hurried to add: “Can I jump in and give some info first?”

“Sure, go ahead,” his friend said and made a funny face for the camera.

Link looked at me and I tried to focus on his blue eyes. “She’s a great cook,” he said, raising his eyebrows and starting a count with his fingers. I chuckled; that couldn’t be more wrong. “She raps a perfect rendition of Rap God…” Even less true. “… and she has a pet elephant. Is that right?”

“ _Absolutely_.”

The whole crew laughed behind the camera and I gave Link a smile that lasted a second or two more than it should probably have, but the man didn’t look away. Instead, he continued: “She’s also great at giving advice.” More smiling, this time no one laughed. There was a pause too long for me to handle, but as soon as I felt the need to fill the gap with a random comment, Link finished: “So what do you have for us today?”

I presented the letters and keychain item of the week, making a few comments here and there, but basically just let the two men do most of the talking. From time to time, as Link was talking, I would recall our conversation in his car. That had been two days ago, already. It was very tough at the moment to believe this was the same man I’d seen crying as I watched him throwing his trademark smoldering glances to the camera.

When he suddenly grabbed my arm, I went back to reality with a jump. “Did I scare you? I’m sorry.” The crew laughed but he sounded like he meant it.

My mouth felt dry. “Nah. Um, please be careful with that,” I warned him while pointing at a very pointy piece that stuck out of that week’s keychain.

Rhett was quick to comment: “First episode and she already knows you, Link.” Little did his friend know we’d had been keeping more contact than he was aware of.

As the crew laughed for the tenth time that More, I heard Link wince in pain next to me.

“Oh Gosh, are you serious?” Rhett seemed more disappointed than worried.

Steph had warned me about Link being clumsy before, that was probably the reason no one in the room really jumped in fear. Soon, Link reassured the audience and us: “It’s just a small cut.” I frowned.

  
I looked over at Rhett and he wasn’t too happy either. Yet, the episode didn’t end until after three more minutes, during which I limited my speech to ironic remarks and a few chuckles. When Morgan announced the cameras had stopped recording, Link got up from his chair and signaled at Rhett to let him through. I bit the inside of my cheek.

Once again, Stevie threw me a nod and with that I left behind the brunette. I could feel everyone’s eyes on my back as I walked away from the room, but I decided he was more important.

When I got to the bathroom, Link was already leaning over the sink and wearing an upset look on his face. I cleared my throat.

“Sorry, it’s me, for a change.”

Link turned his face to me and sighed. “I’m an idiot.”

“Let me take a look,” I said as I took a few steps forward. “Is it bleeding?”

“A bit.” He cursed and quickly apologized.

“Link, we’ll need to apply some pressure first so the bleeding stops, okay?”

“Okay.”

“You didn’t use soap on this, did you?”

“Just water.”

“Good, let me…” I took his hand in one of mine and grabbed a towel from the shelf with the other. “I really hope this is clean.”

He laughed.

I put pressure on his cut palm and after a few seconds he took a deep breath and said: “So… you don’t have a pet elephant.”

“Ha. No.”

“But you’d like one.”

“I’d actually love to have a sloth.”

He nodded slowly and shouted: “Guys, bring it in!”

I laughed out loud. “Don’t make me laugh, I’m supposed to be putting pressure on this!”

“Ah, just leave it. How many more times are you planning to help me, by the way?”

“Don’t pretend it doesn’t hurt, we still need to sanitize it. And you helped me after the paintball incident, remember?”

He made a crooked smile and lowered his head to have a good look at me without his glasses being in the way. I imitated him and after a while I even forgot to apply enough pressure on his hand. I felt my face go red. Last time that had happened we were almost in the dark. This time around it would’ve been impossible for him not to notice. My heart raced as I awaited the inevitable inquiry on why I was suddenly blushing, to which I would have no other choice but to reply with a lie.  
But his comment never came.  
  
That afternoon Stevie called me into her office to discuss an 'urgent matter'. I already knew her enough to know that was only a cover for everyone who might have been listening, so I entered the room with squinty eyes and a smile.

“Please, have a seat,” my boss said.

As soon as I accommodated myself on the chair, her professional look morphed into a schoolgirl one. Stevie didn’t look a year over eighteen.

“You like Link!”

“Oh my Gosh, Stevie…”

“Are you going to _deny_ it?”

“Seriously, what the crap.”

“You even sound like him!”

“Nonsense.”

“Have you made a move yet?”

“You’re not serious.”

“Has he, then?”

“No! Why would he?”

“I’m just saying.” She waited. “Nothing wrong if you do… Like him, I mean. He’s a good guy… A good-looking one...”

I covered my face with my hands.

“Seriously?” She continued. “You haven’t even thought about it?”

“Maybe! I don’t know! Why are we even having this conversation? You were interviewing me for the job just over a month ago!”

“I’m asking because I really think he needs it.”

“He won’t be asking a girl out the same year he had a divorce from his wife of sixteen freaking years, Stevie.”

“You can’t know that.” She was smiling and I was losing my patience.

But why? Why was the idea bugging me that much?

“Am I that obvious?” I asked. Stevie’s mischievous grin made me notice I had taken the bait. I felt dizzy.

“I wasn’t playing with you the other day, by the way. He _did_ ask me your age,” she added.

“Did he say anything else?” I finally inquired, dropping my façade completely.

“Umm… Not that I recall… I’ll keep you posted, though. So… are you going to make a move?”

“I’m gonna _leave_ now,” I informed with a cheeky smile.

“Oh, come on.”

I rose to my feet and I walked out, still hearing Stevie’s trademark laugh after closing her door.


	6. Part 6

When I arrived at the office the next morning, Becca and Lizzie gave me funny looks. Eddie winked at me when he walked past and it wasn’t until Chase signaled to my desk that I understood what everyone’s deal was.

A chocolate bar the size of my laptop screen was sitting on my keyboard. I took a closer look at the note that came with it.

My heart skipped a beat when I noticed it simply read “L”.

When I unlocked my computer, I already had at least five IMs. I opened Stevie’s chat window first.

**STEVIE WYNNE LEVINE:**   
_I just remembered. He asked which candy you liked the most, but you didn’t hear it from me :)_

“So…” Lizzie said at my right. I turned to see her.

“So… Did you see him put this here?”

“Who are you talking about?” She asked and instantly smiled.

“Most amusing, Liz.”

“I didn’t. They must’ve arrived very early and then left to Pasadena. Drew said they’ll be there all day.”

I sighed.

“Right, I’ll text him.”

“Oooh, what’s the deal there?” she wanted to know.

“Um, nothing. I think we’re slowly becoming friends.”

I heard Eddie snort a few feet away, while Lizzie’s left eyebrow seemed to disagree with my statement.

“That chocolate bar screams ‘I’d hate to be in the friendzone’.”

I looked at it for a few seconds and shook my head.

“I’m definitely texting him.”

**ME:**   
_Was it you?_

His reply appeared below mine almost instantly.

**LINK NEAL:**   
_Ur late today._   
_:)_

**ME:**   
_Sorry, I slept in._   
_Question still stands._

**LINK NEAL:**   
_What do u mean?_

**ME:**   
_Okay, never mind. Mike just sent me an IM. He said it was him. I’ll go and thank him._

**LINK NEAL:**   
_Wait, what? It was me!!!_

**ME:**   
_You totally fell for it!_

**LINK NEAL:**   
_Ur mean, woman._   
_:)_

**ME:**   
_Thank you._

**LINK NEAL:**   
_:)_

**ME:**   
_When will I see you?_   
_I mean, I’d like to thank you personally._

**LINK NEAL:**   
_Tomorrow, most likely. Lots of meetings today._

**ME:**   
_I would return the favor but you’re such a picky eater._

**LINK NEAL:**   
_I prefer “discerning”._   
_And u don’t have to give me anything._

**ME:**   
_Bleh._

Half an hour went by before I received a new text, which I had to read a few times.

  
**LINK NEAL:**   
_From one to America, how free r u tomorrow night?_

  
**ME:**   
_Did you just spend 30 minutes googling ‘out of date ways to ask someone out’?_

  
**LINK NEAL:**   
_Haha, no._   
_It only took me 10._

  
**ME:**   
_Okay, now for real._

My heart was beating fast, for a change. Good thing I didn’t suffer from heart failure. I could feel Becca and Lizzie digging holes in my brain, trying to figure out what was going on.

  
**LINK NEAL:**   
_I didn't google, my skills r really that rusty :)_

  
Shit, shit, shit. Think about your reply. Really think about it.

  
**ME:**   
_I should probably get a tetanus shot, then._

**LINK NEAL:**   
_Did u just spend 5 min googling ‘terrible puns’?_

**ME:**   
_I didn’t need to, I learned from the best._

**LINK NEAL:**   
_Ahh, I see. Well, he says hi._   
_:)_

**ME:**   
_Silly._


	7. Part 7

“We’re going to get wasted tonight, you can’t miss it!” Becca shouted at me at six o’clock on Friday afternoon.

  
I bit my lower lip.

I hadn’t seen Link that day and we hadn’t even messaged each other. My anticipation for our little night out had had me nervous all day so I had gotten little to none work done.

I also hadn’t spoken to Steph about any of it, mainly because I didn’t want her to cause fuzz on the internet; I couldn’t trust she would keep the secret. For that reason, Stevie was my number one confidant and advisor on the matter.

“It’s highly likely he meant for everyone to go to the pub tonight and he invited you right after Becca went to him with the idea.”

“Not sure I follow.”

“I think he tested whether or not you would accept an invitation. In case you didn’t, he could always clarify the thing he was inviting you to was a work outing.”

“O… kay? But I said yes (I think). Are we still going out as a group?”

Stevie thought about it for a moment.

“Knowing him the way I do, I’m guessing he’ll try to go slow. Can’t assure you anything, though. It’s the first time since I met him that I see him going after a girl.”

I blushed at that. I needed to control my blushing.

I accepted Becca’s invitation as one third of the crew did, and instantly rushed to the bathroom. The mirror returned the image of a very insecure girl.

After only a couple of months, my boss had become a potential date. And still with that, I failed at accepting the fact that Link and I were developing a relationship which was more than a friendship. There was no real explanation for my new found interest in him, I only knew I liked him. A lot. The reasons Stevie had listed seemed too cliché. Yes, he was all those things and more, but his charm in my eyes laid on different layers that went beyond all that. He had shown a sensible side I didn’t think many of the youngsters who were now starting to get ready had ever seen. And, offering a great amount of contrast, there was the goofiness and eccentric layer he was starting to show as his mood shifted back to normal over the weeks. I had already started to believe that crazy loud persona was just a character created especially for the show, but I was somehow relieved to find out that particular Link was indeed real, and really one of his many intricate sides.

And was it possible the man, who was just coming out of a very dark place, liked me back?

I scratched my forehead; I was thinking too much again.

My red lipstick would be a fine touch. I was already dressed quite nicely, given I was already prepared to go out that night anyway, under whatever title we were supposed to be doing it.

I didn’t see the brunette up until we got to the pub. His hair was upper than ever, his stubble had appeared again, and he was wearing that denim jacket I liked so much.

Great, Neal, thanks for the help.

His eyes were on me even when replying to Kevin’s questions, which made Stevie and Chase throw knowing looks at each other. Meanwhile, Rhett was talking to one of the waitresses to try to convince her of moving one enthusiastic young couple from one of the big round tables, so we could have it instead.

Once we got to claim the round table and ordered our drinks, the chatting started.

As soon as I laid my eyes back on Link, I knew something was different. His very own baby blues were fixed on mine, glowing even under the dim lights of the pub. I threw him a questioning look, and what I got in return was a subtle smirk. I decided to keep my eyes on him no matter what.

And he didn’t look away. The staring battle was on, apparently.

I felt Stevie’s foot hit my leg with moderate strength. I looked down at my intertwined hands.

“I know”, I whispered, only for her ears.

“I hope you know how to handle a drunk Link,” Stevie whispered back.

I swallowed. “Any advice?”

“He’s very hyper.”

“When’s he not?”

I felt my phone vibrate two times inside my pocket. There was no need to even check my texts to know who they were from, but the content got me curious.

**LINK NEAL:**   
_Guess I won that one…_   
_:)_

I smiled.

**ME:**   
_What’s the deal with you, Charles?_

I heard someone (possibly Kevin) tell him to quit using the phone and start talking, but his response appeared right below mine without him even addressing the comment or pausing for a second.

**LINK NEAL:**   
_What do u mean?_

**ME:**   
_You, looking at me with that face._

**LINK NEAL:**   
_What face?_

  
I looked up in his direction again and he was making one of the funny faces they’d given a go at during a selfie-themed episode that week. I laughed out loud and his expression quickly changed into a huge grin.

**ME:**   
_Beautiful._

**LINK NEAL:**   
_U think?_

**ME:**   
_I do._

**LINK NEAL:**   
_:)_

**ME:**   
_You keep smiling at me._

**LINK NEAL:**   
_Can’t help it._

My heart skipped a beat.

I was almost able to hear Stevie’s thoughts at the moment, even though she couldn’t read our conversation. I didn’t need more beer for this.

**ME:**   
_Why?_

**LINK NEAL:**   
_U really wanna know?_

**ME:**   
_Please._

His response took more time than I was able to tolerate waiting.

**ME:**   
_Charles?_

**LINK NEAL:**   
_Rhett just texted me saying he knows we’re texting each other._   
_I told him I saw a cheese board on the menu._   
_I really like it when u call me that._

**ME:**   
_When I call you what, Charles?_

**LINK NEAL:**   
_:) :) :)_

**ME:**   
_Oh, wow, triple smile, what do I win?_

**LINK NEAL:**   
_Free drink of choice._

My eyes went back to him with yet another questioning look. He gestured to the bar with his head and got up, making everyone who was sitting at his right stand up and let him through.

Everyone groaned but Becca, who instead gave me a painfully obvious wink, which Link thankfully missed. The rest of the crew, however, was very quick to catch it, so once I was also on my feet they started looking over at both Link and me, back and forth as if they were watching a ping pong game (the kind where the players are doing nothing but standing up… and, well, about to walk away together).

Eddie let out an unnecessarily loud “And here, we see a wild Link Neal in its unnatural habitat, trying desperately to catch a prey too smart for him. Brutal!”. Link limited his reply to a middle finger which he tried but miserably failed to hide from me.

I gently tugged at the sleeve of his jacket. He turned to me, his eyes impossibly blue, and awarded me with a wink.

“Free drink, you said?” I whispered, pretending not to have paid any damn attention to Eddie’s remark.

“Yeah,” he replied with a tiny smile.

I caught Rhett’s eye for a split second before turning around, but I was unable to read his expression.

When we got to the bar, he asked for two margaritas and then turned to face me with his elbows on the bar behind him.

“Don’t worry, I’m not drunk.”

“Stevie says you’re a… particular kind of drunk.” I said while crossing my arms.

“And what does that even mean?” He laughed.

“I don’t know but it sounded dangerous.”

He shook his head. “That’s stupid.”

“By the way, I thought I could get to choose my drink?”

“I said ‘of choice’. Didn’t say it was your choice.”

“You little—“. His index finger was on my lips before I could even think of an adjective. He left it there for more Mississippis than he should probably have. I could feel our group’s stares on the back of my neck.

I mumbled until he finally took it away.

“—shizzle.”

He opened his mouth, pretending to be horrified. “You foul-mouthed woman!”

More smiling happened until the bartender announced our drinks were ready. Link grabbed them both and walked past me without saying a word, but didn’t go in the direction of the table we were sitting at only a few minutes ago. Instead, he stopped at a littler one about five tables away from the crew and placed the glasses on top with extreme care. Then, with a stupid smoldering expression on his face, he waited. It wasn’t until I sat on one of the two chairs that he sat too, took his drink and sipped a very long sip.

“You seem thirsty.”

He limited his reply to a smile.

“If this was a text conversation, you would’ve just sent me a smiley face.”

Link laughed.

“Yeah…”

“You’re not very talkative today, which is weird in you, considering the last couple of days.”

“I can also be a thinker, you know?” he said with a cocky tone.

“Oh! And what are you thinking about, Mr Thinker?”

I had enough time to drink half of my margarita before he replied to my question, and when he did, his voice sounded husky.

“Can’t say.”

“Oh, come on!”

He raised his eyebrows. “What?”

“That all you got?”

“For now, yes.” He looked away. I blinked a couple of times. “How are you liking the job, huh? Been two months already!”

I narrowed my eyes. He was going for the small talk approach. Right. Sure. I decided not to comment on it.

“I love it, actually. Never had this much fun at work, ever.”

He smiled at me for a change. I wondered whether I was giving him the same in return; I couldn’t really control my face.

“Yeah, it’s a crazy ride,” Link said. “I see you downed your drink already. Dang, girl! Who was thirsty in the end?!”

“Ha, ha. It was actually very good.”

He offered his own glass in response and I only hesitated for a split of a second before I took a sip.

“Thanks,” I said. Before I could even finish the word, Link had taken a sip as well. “I thought that margarita was gone for good to you after I drank from it.”

“I think I’ll survive.”

“I’m impressed.”

“Shut up.”

Between the two of us we downed the glass before the music went louder as an invitation for people to move their business to the dance floor. Instead of following the very wasted crowd, we stayed in place, facing each other with our elbows on the table and holding a heated conversation about which Star Wars movie was the best.

Once the debate came to a halt for a second, neither of us knew how we had gotten there, which resulted in some chuckling. However, after resuming the talking, I don’t think we stopped to ponder on the fact that we were leaning closer and closer on the table. It just happened. And it kept happening.

“Tell me something I don't know about you yet,” he demanded at one point.

“Oh, you already think you know almost everything, don’t ya?”

“To be honest, the thought really bugs me.”

“Okay, then. I was the star of a particularly bad local commercial when I was a baby.”

“Bah. I already knew about that. That’s why we hired you.”

His crooked smile made my heart weak. I hit his shoulder playfully and proceeded to tell him about my closest encounter with stardom to date.

I found myself touching his arm every time he would make a silly observation, not without commenting on how smart it had been. My heart started to race when he suddenly lifted his left arm to run his fingers through my already messy hair. ‘It looks wavier today, did you curl it?’ he would say.

It was easy to lose track of time when sitting across someone like him, I realized. I couldn’t even describe the man at the moment, but I did stop to think more than once during our little date. To think about the way locks of his hair were starting to get stuck to his forehead, or how dimples would form on his cheeks near his lips every time one of my lame jokes made him laugh out loud, how his tongue sticking out a bit would be a secondary effect, or how he’d scratch the back of his head and look down with a smirk whenever I mentioned something I liked about him.

After what seemed like hours (but was most likely only one), we didn’t even need to raise our voices to be able to understand one another; I could read his lips and tell exactly what he meant, lisp and all. At one point his knee touched mine under the tiny table and I considered brushing back against it. Our eyes met only inches apart and I felt a tingling sensation in my belly.

My knee finally decided to act on my behalf and brushed his softly. Link’s jawline tensed and his gaze fell on my hands, which were both playing with my empty glass. He took them in his with the softest of touches and I felt the entirety of the blood in my body go to my face. That couldn’t be possible, right?

The only thing that really made sense at that moment was to caress his hands with my thumbs, but my body would not respond anymore.

Link’s eyes were on mine once again and with a heavy sigh he did for me what I was too much of a coward to do a few seconds before. I couldn’t remember the last time a guy had stroked my hands, even held them at all, with such care.

He said my name in the deepest voice I would ever hear him produce, and I decided it was too cliché to reply with his name, so he proceeded. “What am I going to do with you, girl?”

I made a thinking face for the sake of hiding my real expression, which would have been something very close to the one I made that time in fifth grade I found out I had pissed myself when laughing too hard.

“Well, you can come and dance a few songs with me, if you want?”

He bit his lower lip and looked over at the crowded mayhem.

“Sure.”

Not letting go of his hands, I walked him among the sweaty teenagers to what appeared to be the middle of the dance floor, making a ridiculous dance on the way that he seemed to find terribly amusing.

Despite not being able to have him touch me without blushing, I found myself stepping into his personal space, hooking my arms around his neck and swinging my hips left and right. Luckily I remembered the lyrics to that particular Rihanna song, so I sang them to him without really wanting to stop to think if there were any second meanings to what I was saying. I could confirm this when his smile became wider and he raised his eyebrows. I turned my back on him and continued dancing in an effort to hide my blushing face from his sight, but it was too late. The sudden feeling of his hands grabbing my waist and his breath on my neck sent me up the moon. We danced in this position for the rest of the song, between laughter and the exaggerated high-pitch rendition of it.

It was over too soon, and when the following song started, Link decided to whisper the lyrics in my ear, sending shivers through my spine. I became a melting pudding under the touch of his lips on my earlobe and also his freakishly large hands which were now threatening to crawl under my shirt.

When I finally figured out what to do with my hands, I placed one on top of one of his, and the other went up to meet his face, but brushed all the way across his stubble to land on his hair and stroke it with my fingers in the lightest of ways. He placed a light peck on my jaw.

“Baby…” he growled, and the tingling sensation in my belly came back.

Without really separating an inch from his body, I took my hands away from where they were and turned to face him again.

The next thing I knew was that I had checked off my list something I’d never even put in it in the first place; _I was kissing Link Neal_.

It started as a very soft, slow and messy collision of parted lips. His hands fit perfectly on each side of my neck, his thumbs on my cheeks and the rest of his fingers tangling gently with my hair. My very own had a mind of their own at the time, and I found them playing on his lower back, dangerously close to his bottom. I dared lowering my hands a bit more and when they started to enter his back pockets he let out a small moan against my mouth and then proceeded to deepen the kiss.

I had control over his body due to the location my hands were at so I pulled him tight against me, tongues now playing with each other.

After about a whole other song we decided it was best to breathe a bit, so our lips separated and I instantly felt mine swollen. Our faces were still only a few inches away, and the look Link was giving me was that of a hungry man. His pupils were dilated, his hair a beautiful mess, his breathing shallow, and I’m sure I looked no different.

When Rhett appeared out of thin air to remind his best friend of an important meeting in the morning they needed to be well-slept for, the brunette didn’t take his eyes off me right away, but it took him a few long seconds.

“Yeah,” was all he managed to reply in a raspy voice.

I was almost able to feel Rhett’s exasperation, so I joined in.

  
“We should go. It’s getting late, anyway.”

  
I grabbed his hand and I feared Link would snap at Rhett, but he didn’t.

When we made it outside, what was left of the crew was staring at both of us with a mixture of expressions. Stevie was wearing a proud mother smile on her face, Eddie was looking at us with a gaped mouth, Kevin seemed simply confused and I could’ve sworn Becca had never looked happier in her life.

Link snorted and shook his head, then, pulling me closer by the hand, he placed two little gentle kisses on my cheek. Without saying any words he got into Rhett’s car and that was the last I saw of the blue-eyed glassesed man that weekend.

Kevin was already starting the engine of his car and ready to take all his children home when I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket.

**LINK NEAL:**   
_Please let me know when you get home. You are beautiful._


	8. Part 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for sexy times.

I spent the weekend thinking about Link in ways I’d never dared to since the moment we met. I soon discovered I wasn’t able to give my mind a rest and decided to give him a call.

Eagerness got the best of me so I sat on my bed with legs crossed, wishing he’d already be sound asleep. That being the case, he’d probably never hear his phone ring.

I was already about to give up when his velvety voice replied on the other side of the line:

“Hey.”

He sounded like he was smiling, so I couldn’t help but smile a bit myself. “Hi.”

And that’s all I was able to give out.

Link insisted in sounding like a purring kitten. “How dare you call at these late hours?” He didn’t even give me enough time to form an apology in my head and gave me his most beautiful chuckle.

I still apologized.

“Quite on the contrary, actually. I’m… I’m glad you called.”

“You are?” I was now planning on extending the conversation as much as I could. I leaned back on my bed and rested my head on a bent arm. Despite my confident position, I was blushing like a schoolgirl. Link’s whispery voice wasn’t helping.

“Yeah… Back when I, you know, dated… Girls would expect us, guys, to call instead of calling us themselves.”

“Were you expecting me to call?”

“Well, I knew you were different.”

“Seems like you’re excusing your laziness, Charles.”

“Whoa, hang on, there, I’m not excusing myself at all!” His voice was still smooth as hell when he said this; his flirting game was strong. He continued: “It’s not laziness… It’s just… I guess I’m just a huge wimp.”

“The same wimp who whispered filthy lyrics in my ear and slid his tongue into my mouth just about two nights ago?”

He chuckled again.

“Gotta tell ya I really liked that,” he murmured.

“It was alright,” I chuckled too.

I heard him sigh and I wondered what it was best to say next. I felt an urge to let him know how much I actually liked him, but wasn’t that obvious at that point? Then I remembered Steph mentioning how oblivious some men were to someone liking them despite having displayed obvious signs of attraction to them. Wasn’t a kiss on the mouth enough display? You never knew, really.

Before I could even make up my mind on my next move, Link spoke in a very different tone:

“Will I see you tomorrow?”

“Umm, yeah, of course. Will I see you too?”

He laughed.

“You’ll see me…”

His loud yawn reminded me my boss went to bed pretty early every night, so I quickly jumped: “I’ll let you sleep now, I just wanted to hear your silly voice.”

“You’re not actually letting me sleep, you know.”

I pondered on my reply.

“I don’t know, what do you mean?” Link didn’t respond instantly, so I added: “I can almost hear you smiling.” He giggled. “Good night, Charles.”

“Good night, beautiful.”

My heart was jumping inside my chest, but I somehow managed to fall asleep after a while.  
  
When the alarm in my phone woke me up at 7am, I knew my priorities were now skewed. I wanted to see Link before anything else that day.

The man appeared in my field of vision as soon as I entered the studio, plaid blue and red shirt, shoulders wider as ever, hair a bit messy but just the way I liked it.

I shortened the distance and said a quiet ‘boo’ only for his ears. He pretended to jump and smiled, then signaled to the hall and I followed him to the office he shared with Rhett on what felt like tiptoes. We still weren’t sure if the way we’d acted at the pub a few days back was an appropriate office behavior. Many things indicated it wasn’t, like the heavy frowning look Rhett gave us when we walked past him somewhere around the kitchen.

For a second after Link closed the door behind me I wondered if he even wanted to make physical contact at all just in case we got caught, but it wasn’t long until my answer came in the form of his face towering dangerously close to mine and his hands going straight to my waist.

His expression denoted discontent; naturally, I mirrored him.

He did nothing but breathe and blink for the following ten seconds, so I decided to break the ice despite of how much I was liking the intimacy of it all.

“You have a long day today?” I whispered. I never planned for those to be my words, but after I spoke I knew I’d said the right thing. Link sighed and nodded, eyes still glued to mine. “Is there anything I can do?”

“Hmm…”

“Sit down, come on.” I gestured to one of the chairs closest to us and even though he hesitated for a few seconds in confusion, he obeyed.

I positioned myself behind him and placed my hands on his shoulders. My movements were awkward at first but soon I found my pace and proceeded to give Link what could be called a decent massage. His reaction consisted in letting his head fall forwards and growling in pleasure. I took note of this.

“You’re very quiet again; I hate it when you do that.”

“I’ve been thinking a lot,” he said, almost inaudibly.

“Is that so? What about?” I dared asking while continuing to perform the rhythmic swipes across his wide shoulders and upper back.

He moved his head back and there was something about his blue eyes that reminded me of the other night at the pub. The way he’d looked at me then was almost lascivious. This time around, however, there was something completely different. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but just the thought of it made my heart start racing.

I cleared my throat. “I… haven’t finished yet.”

“I feel quite relaxed already. That was very soothing.” He was smiling.

My hands were still on his shoulders and I wasn’t planning on breaking contact, but when I heard his phone beep inside his pocket I knew it was a lost cause.

I couldn’t fully let the man go without bending over and placing my lips lightly on his forehead.

When he finally stood up, he grabbed my hands and kissed each palm with extreme softness. He whispered a low ‘ _thank you_ ’ and with that, he left the room, apparently taking for obvious the message he’d received was a reminder from Rhett not to be late for a meeting.

The guys shot two episodes that day, none of which involved gagging or even moving from their seats at all, so I was able to spend the afternoon sitting on my usual chair and typing out some ideas for future contests. More than once I caught Link looking over in my direction, only to smile at him and hope he wouldn’t get too distracted. Rhett only noticed one time while catching a glimpse of his friend on the monitor, but his only response was to throw me a look which I took like a fair warning not to interact.

Link showed himself somewhat cheerful during the entirety of the first episode, but by the time the second ‘ _Let’s talk about that!_ ’ of the day was heard in the stuffed studio, I noticed the energies had decreased considerably.

When the second wheel ending failed to even be funny, the pair took a few minutes before shooting the More. There would be a cut on that one. Rhett’s eyes looked tired and he even yawned a couple times. He headed to the bathroom to ‘ _wash my freaking face, I’m honestly exhausted, guys_ ’, while Link walked towards me with a crooked smile.

He put a hand on my shoulder and rubbed on it. With a fingertip, he drew circles on my skin, causing a shiver I managed to suppress. I smiled back at him and gave him a questioning look. He bent his knees so our faces would be at the same level and whispered: “Why didn’t you tell me it’s your birthday tomorrow?”

I rolled my eyes. “Stevie?”

“Stevie,” he chuckled. “Question still stands.”

“I… didn’t want you to feel obligated to buy me something, to be honest.”

“You can’t be serious.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright, I guess… So, what do you want?” His smile was now playful.

I laughed. “Actually, I would be quite content with just a night out.”

His expression became softer. “You mean me and you?”

“Of course I won’t be able to convince some of the guys here not to celebrate with me, but yeah, ideally it would be just you and me.”

Link’s eyes shifted to my lips. “You mean like a date?”

“I mean whatever you want.”

He directed his stare back at my eyes. “Whatever I want? I thought it was _your_ birthday.”

“I’ll rely on any ideas you might have.”

“I have a few,” he purred as he brushed my hair and tucked it behind my ear.

I didn’t realize everyone was looking at us until Eddie’s loud whistle brought me back to reality.

There was some timid cheering and laughing from the rest of the crew, but when I turned and looked over at the GMM desk, Rhett was already sitting there again and typing distractingly on his phone. I sighed in relief, he could’ve been loading his machine gun for all I knew.

“You better go and finish that episode. We have a date tonight.”

Link half-smiled at me again, stood up and joined his best friend. The moods were definitely better this time.

The clock marked six o’clock before Stevie and I could even make up our minds on what was best to do that night. The most logical option was to go out as a group and then to leave me and Link alone for the rest of the night, so we went with it.

Same pub, same table, same people, different distribution. At half past eight, the birthday girl found herself between a very cheerful and already a bit drunk Stevie, and Link Neal, who was determined not to leave his spot for anything just in case ‘ _Mike decides to slide over here; he’s been looking at you since we got here_.’

“Why? You jealous?” I asked with a challenging look, our faces too close for a normal conversation.

“You betcha,” he purred.

“Well, Charles, you better start marking your territory, then.”

I saw his eyes go darker. His face disappeared from my field of vision and made its way past my hair, then he started kissing my neck like nobody’s business, causing Stevie to start wooing and ask for another round of beers. I heard Chase make a few remarks and Becca laughing nervously, plus a number of other varied reactions, but I didn’t really care about anything else besides the man who was now nibbling on some sensitive bits of my skin. My hands moved  
instinctively to his stomach, resulting in some naughty chuckling. His warm breath against my ear was enough to make me wish we were somewhere more private. I moved away just enough to be able to whisper into his ear, but he took the sign the wrong way and moved his work to my mouth. He grabbed my face with fierceness and kissed my lips in a way I knew would make everyone in that pub stay away from me the whole night. I felt the temperature of my body raise to dangerous levels as soon as his tongue asked for permission. My lips parted without inquiring my brain; I wanted Link Neal too bad for my own good.

I somehow was able to hear the crew saying something about dancing and dashing away, but my guy clearly didn’t. His hands were now caressing my back while I took hold of his face.

When we broke apart and struggled to get some air, whatever I said into his ear made him give me that gorgeous smirk of his again, take my hand and guide me in an almost running fashion across the already crowded place, past the tables, past the dancing mass, to the ladies toilet. We only took a brief pause to check the sign on the door.

Link’s hands were on me once more even before we managed to enter a stall. Chuckling, I pushed him into the one that was the most far from the door and locked us inside. He dragged me in for a deep kiss and I let my eyes close, giving into the feeling of his body suddenly against mine. I slammed back against the stall door and from there Link worked quickly; he tugged my skirt up and rummaged in his pocket for a condom. “You little shit,” I mumbled against his mouth, and he growled in response.

We separated and I plucked the condom from his fingers to open it myself while he undid his fly. I didn’t have time to appreciate the view I had in front of me; my desire needed to be taken care of urgently. I rolled the condom onto his arousal with a single movement, relishing at the groan he made and the way his eyes rolled back.

Link tugged my panties to the side and shifted his stance, pressing against my entrance and rocking gently, barely breaching me. My hands scrabbled on his back, trying to pull him further into me until my breathless whimpers pushed him over and he drove all the way, bottoming out.

Once the step was taken, he worked me over like a pro, rolling and snapping his hips, taking my legs and wrapping them around his waist to give me something to hold onto. “You feel great, baby,” he whispered against my ear through gritted teeth, and I couldn’t help but let out an embarrassing moan. “Hmm… I love the sounds you make.” We were both panting loudly at this point. “Can you tell how much I want you?”

Everything he said drove me wilder, and soon I found myself burying my face in his neck, clenching around him and rocking down when I could to meet his thrusts. I was mostly just holding on for dear life while he ravished me.

We were already worked up enough so we didn’t last as long as we wanted to. Shuddering and spilling into the condom, Link grinded against my clit just right to send me over too, and all I could do was bite his jacket to keep from screaming. He slowly pulled out and helped me put myself back together.

There was almost no trace of the blue eyes anymore, but his crooked smile was now back. He pulled his phone out of his pocket to look at the time. Then he pressed his forehead against mine and whispered, still a bit out of breath: “ _Happy birthday_.”


	9. Part 9

\- 1 MONTH LATER -

 

“You really can’t see shit,” I told him.

“Language, girl,” he said in a very smooth voice.

I wanted to kiss his lips right then and there, but…

“I can’t see you.”

“Well, I can’t either.”

“Yes, you can. Don’t exaggerate.”

“Not well enough.” He smiled. “Can I please have my glasses back?”

“Get them yourself,” I challenged him.

I heard him chuckle and suddenly the glasses were sliding off my ears.

“Thank you,” he said.

“Aw, come on, that was anticlimactic!”

He was chuckling again, but I wasn’t able to focus on his face.

“I think I have a headache,” I informed.

Link’s blue eyes reappeared before me as my vision started to clear and I held my breath.

Had I ever told him how beautiful those baby blues were? Couldn’t remember.

“I think you need glasses yourself,” he concluded, oblivious to my inner ranting.

“Well, I actually got a prescription from an actual optometrist a bit less than a month ago, so I could go see some pairs this week.”

“An ‘actual optometrist’?” He narrowed his eyes, smiling.

“Yup.”

“Okay, we’ll go tomorrow… If you want me to come as well, that is.”

I was aware of how funny he found my exasperated faces so I decided to give him one in response to that.

“I’ll take that as a ‘yes’,” he said and gave me a quick peck on the cheek before walking away back to his office.

I found myself looking back on my relationship with Link pretty often, mostly during the night. ‘Is it possible he likes me back?’ I’d asked myself just over a month ago, so with that in mind I smiled to myself as I re-read his goodnight message from December 1st.

**LINK NEAL:**   
_You know, I never planned to like you this much and I never thought you’d be on my mind this often, but it just feels right._   
_Goodnight :)_

That night I’d fallen asleep with my phone on my chest, like in rom-coms, only to wake up hours later with a gentle vibration that indicated he hadn’t been able to wait until 9am that morning.

He liked me and I liked him, it was that simple. And still every time our eyes met inches apart and his lips slowly curved into an innocent smile, I felt the need to say more.

There weren’t more than ten streets between our office and the optic shop, but still Link insisted on taking me in his car.

Our conversation was mainly about which type of glasses I should buy, and he even suggested to find a pair as similar to his as possible so we could start a YouTube channel.

“And what would it even be about?”

“Just two blind-as-bats folks who keep clashing glasses every time they want to kiss.”

I felt myself blush. Our kisses were limited to goodnight ones once he dropped me home after work every day. Sweet but quick as Rhett would always be in the car a few steps from us.

“Definitely sounds like the kind of content I’d subscribe to,” I said sarcastically.

“I know, right?!”

The lady at the shop offered me five different options to try on and left us alone to go check on other clients. I put on the first ones and instantly thought I looked ridiculous.

I turned to Link, who was standing right next to me, and he was wearing a cheeky smile on his face.

“I know, not these.”

“I like them,” he clarified.

I blinked a couple times. “Nah.”

“I do!”

“Let’s try on these other ones, okay?”

“Mkay.”

Blue and thick frames.

“No.”

“Yes.”

“Charles!”

“What?!”

“I look like a—“

“You look great!”

I sighed.

Black and honestly huge.

I looked at him with an exasperated face. He was smiling big.

“You can’t seriously like all these.”

“I like them on you.”

I gave him a gentle push on the shoulder. “I really need your help deciding.”

“I can’t be of any help, I’m not objective.” He carefully slid off the brown round pair I was now wearing. “You always look beautiful.” He kissed my lips as if he was trying not to break me. He tasted like coffee and lip balm and everything I always expected him to. I reciprocated the kiss mirroring his gentleness, but after what seemed like an eternity, I eagerly wrapped my arms around his back and pulled him closer. He snorted and broke the kiss, surrounding me with his own arms and kindly guiding my head to rest on his chest. We shouldn’t be doing this here, was clearly his message. He inhaled loudly against my hair and the first thought I had was of thankfulness for having washed my hair the previous night. The second thought was a very strong one of longing. Longing to let him know how I felt, and also longing for further intimacy.

I felt myself blush. “Hey…”

“Hmm?”

“Let’s go back now; Rhett will be waiting for ya.”

“Bleh.”

“Oh, come on…”

I felt his chuckles against my ear and I turned my face to kiss his chest.

“Okay, okay. Let’s.” He took his arms from around me and left his face close to mine, nuzzling at my cheek for a bit. “You are the cutest thing,” he whispered in my ear before kissing my cheek and taking my hand to walk us to the front door. I barely remembered to thank the lady before stepping out behind my guy. We spent the ride back to the office in silence. I looked over at Link every minute or two and he glanced back at me almost every time, giving me a dashing half-smile and piercing eyes. It had to be tonight.

Stevie was discussing the final outlines for the episode with Rhett when we entered the studio, and none of them even noticed our presence. Link coughed and they both paused and turned to us.

“Great!” said Stevie. “We’ll be filming the Déjà Vu episode now and we’ll be done for the day.”

“Okie dokie,” Link replied and gave his friend a tap on the arm, walking past him and sitting on the GMM desk in a jumping fashion.

The subject discussed on the episode sure seemed interesting, but I wasn’t really able to focus on anything other than that gorgeous glassesed face. I couldn’t even make out what he was saying. His big full lips, lisp included, were captivating to me. My eyes went down to his manly yet carefully crafted hands. Were they always this big? I needed to cool myself down before things got too unbearable.

And just when I had this thought and finally looked down at my laptop, I heard Rhett say: “Link, I would love to draw on your chest.” A statement to which Link replied with: “Absolutely.” I looked back up just in time to see his hands go to the top button of his plaid and I prayed the Lord I could keep it together.

The brunet glanced over at me and caught me staring intensely, which made him smile mischievously. I had trouble breathing as Rhett drew on Link’s chest, as I realized I probably had consent to do the same whenever I wanted to. And not exactly with a crayon.

It definitely had to be tonight.

My fingers were hurriedly typing a text before I was able to go back to reality. I needed to work on my daydreaming.

**ME:**   
_Are you free tonight?_

I wasn’t really expecting a reply, or him to read it at all yet, but I needed to let it out.

When he took his whole shirt off, I seized the opportunity to lay my eyes on those perfect biceps. No shame at all. I licked my lips and breathed deeply again.

Stevie was right next to me and seemed to notice all this, but she knew better than to shoulder me out of my slumber. I only remembered her presence, though, when she reminded the guys of what items to promote after the wheel ending intro.

“Welcome to Good Mythical More,” Link said after a very funny ending, and I saw him peek at the light flashing from his phone, which was now lying next to him on his table by the desk. He took it and I waited anxiously for his reaction.

His eyebrows flew up, followed by a knowing smile. His eyes were on me now.

I winked at him.

**LINK NEAL:**   
_Sure :) U wanna go eat somewhere?_

**ME:**   
_Absolutely._

**LINK NEAL:**   
_That’s an unlikely response to a question like that._

**ME:**   
_Well, I was hoping you’d get my meaning, handsome :)_

  
**LINK NEAL:**   
_U shouldn’t be allowed to flirt with me like that while I’m working._   
_And yes, I know what u mean, gorgeous._

**ME:**   
_Good :)_

**LINK NEAL:**   
_So what u wanna eat?_

**ME:**   
_Oh, you really want to make me say it, don’t you?_

**LINK NEAL:**   
_:)_

**ME:**   
_If you’re on the menu, I’ll have you with fries and a Coke, please._

**LINK NEAL:**   
_That’s a new level of flirting, baby girl._

**ME:**   
_I doubt it even counts as flirting anymore, pretty eyes._

“You done?” I heard Rhett say.

“Um, yeah…” Link put his phone back down and Rhett gave another welcome to the audience, assuming all the previous stuff would be cut.

They were supposed to be playing with a Simon Says toy now and I wondered how concentrated my guy could be on the task at hand.

Not at all, as it turned out. He would ruin the thing at random moments and Rhett would look at him in disbelief. Still, they managed to complete a highly complex level and after they were done celebrating, Stevie shouted: “ _Cut!_ ”


	10. Part 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for sexy time.

Both Link and I were dragged by our responsibilities for the rest of the day, and as I anticipated, I was not able to focus one bit.

I soon learned Link was not doing any better as a new IM window popped on the lower right side of my screen.

 **LINK NEAL:**  
_Is it six already?_

 **ME:**  
_I think you meant to write an “e”, not an “i”._

 **LINK NEAL:**  
_Es it six already?_  
_:)_

 **ME:**  
_You are an idiot._

 **LINK NEAL:**  
_I think u meant to write “very smart”._

 **ME:**  
_You are an very smart._

 **LINK NEAL:**  
_Ha ha._

 **ME:**  
_Your place or my place?_

 **LINK NEAL:**  
_I honestly don’t care…_

 **ME:**  
_Then my place it is._

 **LINK NEAL:**  
_Mmm :)_  
_Can’t wait…_

Needless to say, at six o’clock we were both saying our goodbyes. Link made up a whole story about us going to buy some stuff for an upcoming episode that only he knew how to get, but when I gave the Crew a last glance before disappearing through the door, everyone gave me winks and thumbs up. I smiled.

“I’d love to say I set up candles and flowers all over the floor, but I didn’t know we were doing this,” I told Link as we started driving in the direction of my apartment.

He turned to see me with a strange look on his face. “Please explain how it would’ve been possible for you to leave candles on since this morning.”

“It’s my way of saying the place is not really visitor-ready at the moment.”

“I actually don’t give a dang,” he said, showing me his white teeth.

“Good, you’re showing me your canines now. Is that a threat?”

“Mmm!”

Once we arrived, Link threw his backpack on my couch and embraced me in a tight hug.

“Finally alone…” he whispered in my ear.

“Aha,” I replied in a suggestive tone.

“So…” he started.

“So… Wanna watch a movie?” I suggested. Link moved to see my face again and he had a funnily confused expression. “Wait, let’s eat something first!”

“You’re crazy, girl.”

“Thanks for the heads up!” I kissed the tip of his nose quickly and walked the ten steps that led to my fridge. “So, we have chicken… And chicken… Do you like chicken?”

Link leaned on the door frame and smiled lazily at me. “Sure.”

“I know you can’t cook but you’ll help me, you’re not gonna get away with just looking handsome over there.” I said as I prepared the utensils on the table.

He crossed his arms in front of him. “I can play some music if you want?”

“Umm, actually, that’s a great idea.”

“See? I’m already helping.” Link said as he turned my radio on.

‘ _Can’t Stop the Feeling_ ’, by Justin Timberlake started playing just in time and the brunet was dancing to it before I even recognized the song.

_**I got that sunshine in my pocket Got that good soul in my feet** _

I laughed out loud as Link took both of my hands and made me join his ridiculous dance.

_**I feel that hot blood in my body when it drops** _

“ _Ooooh_ ”, we both sang at unison and giggled like idiots.

Link hid his face in my neck like he loved doing and kept singing the lyrics in a whisper.

_**And under the lights when everything goes Nowhere to hide when I'm getting you close** _

We dance and laughed and cuddled through the whole thing, after which we wordlessly declared it _our song_.

Dinner was ready after about an hour in which I was able to make Link help in many different tasks, claiming he would be able to cook simple dishes in just a few weeks simply by putting his mind to it. He disagreed, adding: “I would also need you to teach me. I’ll only give my full attention to you.”

“You don’t need to flirt anymore, we’re already dating.”

“Says the girl who threatened to eat me and called me pretty eyes only a few hours ago.”

“I wasn’t flirting, I was just being honest.”

We ate on the tiny table I had in the kitchen. Link concluded I was an excellent cook and rewarded me by stroking my cheek smoothly. I leaned my head into his touch and kept my eyes on him. Just like the day we had first kissed, our knees touched under the table and played with each other. I found my left foot slowly travelling up and down his leg. I saw one of Link’s eyebrows make an appearance above his glasses.

I mirrored him.

“Wanna move this to your couch?” he proposed.

“Absolutely,” I smirked.

We didn’t bother clearing the table and we sat on the couch with not an inch between us.

I turned the TV on and Link raised both hands in the air, palms up. “Are you for real, girl?” He said.

“I thought this was a Netflix and chill situation?” I clarified, containing the laughter.

“What even is that?” I saw a hint of realization in his eyes, though.

“I could show you just what it means… If you want?” I breathed. He gave me a flashing smile and I wasted no time, desperately closing the distance between us and kissing him hard. Link’s fingers tangled in my hair and held me close while he pried my lips open and explored my mouth with his tongue. In seconds, I was straddling the brunet on the seat, rocking against him and cradling his face in my hands. He grew hard in moments, and I could feel him through the fabric of his jeans.

" _I want you,_ " he said through clenched teeth. 

Pushing me away with care, Link pulled his pants, boxers and shoes off in a matter of seconds. He yanked me back and hiked up my skirt, tugging my knickers off in one motion. I stretched and contorted myself in a ridiculous way in order to fumble in my purse for a condom, which I rolled on his length before he helped pick me up and sit on it, going slowly until he was buried deep inside of me.

"Fuck," I groaned, rocking against him, bracing my knees on the seat on either side of his legs. Crashing our lips together, his hands firmly gripped my butt and guided me. It didn’t take long before he sped up, thrusting hard into me and making me whimper against his lips. He grunted every time he moved, his voice rough and lower than usual.

“ _Upstairs,_ ” he managed to let out and I struggled to get up, letting him do the same. With surprising strength, he picked me up and wrapped my legs around him.

He knew the way so I let him take me. We left a trail of clothes as we went. His shirt and jacket were already gone by the time we got to the stairs, leaving me with the most to remove. He somehow took my shoes off and I heard them clatter and roll all the way down. He decided to also help with my shirt, taking his time, making me gasp as he let me feel his fingers trailing along the bare skin that he exposed. When we finally reached my bedroom, we froze beside the bed.

He stared deeply into my eyes, then he kissed my lips ever so softly for long seconds, sighing against my mouth and caressing my back. When he was done, I came out of my slumber just as he let me fall backwards onto the mattress. I let out a small cry and bit my lower lip as Link caged me with his arms, a feral light in his eyes as he finally dragged my skirt off. He slid a hand beneath my back and I arched myself to allow him to work on the clasp of my bra, which he easily managed to undo and rip off of me, tossing it into the corner. He then took a few more seconds to examine my now completely naked body.

“Well?” I was able to mutter. His response came in the form of a dashing smile as he bent over me and buried his face in my neck.

"I’m sorry you took the time to make your bed today," he murmured in a deep voice, leaving a trail of soft kisses on my neck as he spoke. “’Cause I’m planning on having you grab these sheets off,” he finished and he lightly drew his tongue over the most sensitive bits of my earlobe and collar. He already had me arching into him. His huge hands went to my breasts and cupped them.

I bit my lower lip.

“Mmm, you like that?” I nodded desperately. “Good…”

“I just… wished you’d… ahh… use that skilled tongue of yours… Christ, babe… somewhere else.” He suddenly paused. I caught my breath as his face reappeared in my field of vision, his eyes denoting a mix of surprise and excitement.

  
Link’s face went dead serious and he slowly got out of bed to then kneel on the floor. He spread my legs apart, taking a good look. When he moved his eyes back up to mine, he swallowed. He was breathing shallowly and so was I. “You sure, baby?” he said, huskily.

In response, I carefully reached out for his head, burying my fingers in his dark hair with one hand and taking his glasses off with the other. I nodded and he moved closer. When he started placing quick kisses to the insides of my thighs, I began to forget about whatever tiny doubts were left in my mind. His hands gently but firmly kept my legs spread.

He continued to move in closer and I jumped as I felt his full lips at the top of my cleft. He started to lap at my wetness with his tongue, and I couldn’t help the soft moan that escaped my lips. His baby blues looked up and our eyes met. I exhaled loudly. “Yes, more… _please_.”

He pressed openmouthed kisses as he went a few inches down. As I started to fall back down onto the mattress, still keeping my hand on the back of his head, he began to retrace his steps back up, his tongue darting between my folds. I gasped and arched into Link’s mouth. He was at my clit now, and he gave it special attention, drawing it between his lips, flicking it with his tongue. “ _Fuck, Charles_ ,” I cried and let go of his hair to pull at the sheets below me. I could now feel him grinning against me and I took mental note of using that name more often.

I bucked my hips as he sped up, his stubble brushing against my womanhood. Between the increasingly loud moaning I was producing and the sounds Link’s mouth was making, the air was filled with obscenity. In no time at all, I could feel myself brought to the edge, so I abruptly moved away from him and laid with my head on the pillow, motioning at him to join me on the bed once more.

His now grinning face, from the tip of his nose to his chin, was covered in my wetness. He wiped himself off before he chuckled and leaned in to kiss me, to which I eagerly responded. I could taste both him and myself on his lips and tongue; the combination was a bit strange, but one that I could definitely get used to.

I pulled back and gathered enough courage to look straight into his eyes and moan: " _I want you inside me._ ”

Not even three seconds passed before he had positioned himself against my entrance and started thrusting into me. He placed his sweaty forehead on mine. We were both panting and cursing and I could feel myself reaching the edge again. I wrapped my arms around the man on top of me at the time he buried his face in my neck again. Speeding up, the pounding soon became erratic and I clenched around him, making him scream my name.

I finally climaxed screaming his name in return and he came shortly after, filling the condom with a groan.

We laid there for a few wonderful seconds, trying to catch our breaths. The last thing I expected to hear was laughter, but when he began to chuckle I decided it was the most beautiful sound I’d ever heard. I laughed too and caressed his wide back, placing a kiss on his temple. Link pulled out and pushed himself away to lay on his back next to me, looking at the ceiling with an open-mouthed smile as he continued to breathe deeply in between giggles. His round cheeks were pink.

Was this the same man I was fucking just a minute ago? He was impossible.

  
Link signaled me to rest my head on his chest and I obeyed. He held me there, cradling me in his arms and pressing feather-light kisses to my face.

“Thank you,” I said. He searched for my hand and interlaced his fingers with mine with a sigh, placing both of our hands close to his heart. I was able to feel it beating fast.

“You are amazing,” he replied.

“Charles…”

“Yes?” He snickered.

“Stay with me tonight,” I whispered, awaiting his response anxiously.

“If you want me to,” he purred.

“I would love that.” I planted small pecks on his chest.

“Okay,” he said in the purest of voices. After a couple more seconds he added, almost inaudibly: “We should take a shower.”

I brushed myself against him, closing my eyes with a stupid smile on my face. “Just a few more minutes, okay?” He awarded me with a low chuckle and stroked my hair ever so lightly with his free hand.

“Sounds good to me.”


	11. Part 11

_I was in love with him._

  
The realization hit me like a brick wall when the first lights on the day caressed my eyelids the next morning. Link’s face was only a few inches from mine.  
I examined him with extreme care.

His full red lips were curved in a mild smile which made me wonder what he was dreaming about. His eyelashes seemed even longer under the dim lightning of the room. I ran a finger through his jawline as softly as I could as to not wake him up and it wasn’t until then that I noticed I’d never seen his stubble so grown before. A few hairs were already grey.

The slow rise and fall of his chest made my own breathing calmer.

We were both naked under the sheets, which made it all even more intimate, and that way it was hard to forget what had brought us to wake up on the same bed that morning. But I wouldn’t have forgotten even without these clues.

I smiled to myself and sighed.

I slowly got up and made my way to the bathroom. I looked at myself in the mirror and I was surprised to see a smile on my face, even though I instantly knew what was causing it.

As I brushed my teeth, a question started nagging at my mind.

_Is it too soon?_

_To feel it or to say it?_

_Both, I think._

I washed my mouth and left the toothbrush aside. I had time to dress again before he began to move on the bed. He shifted his position and rested on his belly, arms up and under his pillow. The sheets were only covering him from the waist down so I stared at him for a good while, admiring that wide back and trying to decide what to do with myself. I ended up lying on top of his body.

“Morning,” he muttered, his voice husky.

“Morning,” I replied.

“You talk in your sleep, you know?”

“Do I?”

“Yup.”

“And how were you even there for that? You are one of the deepest sleepers I’ve ever met.”

Link rotated his head to the other side.

“How many of them have you met?”

Was he asking…?

“Umm…”

“It’s okay, you don’t have to tell me.” He closed his eyes again and I hurried to kiss his cheek.

“I’ll make you something for breakfast. How about cereal?” I asked while making my way out of the room.

He smiled. “Cereal would be cool.”

“You can take a shower first, if you want.”

“Only if you take it with me,” he hummed.

I stopped at the doorframe and turned to see him. He got up with surprising energy and followed me to the bathroom.

I took my clothes off in a matter of seconds as he turned the taps on. I stepped into the shower facing back to him and he slowly moved my hair out of the way to

make room for his lips. He kissed the back of my neck seductively at the time his hands cupped my breasts. Neither of us said a word as the warm water travelled through our bodies.

My head fell back to rest on his chest and he chuckled, lowering his hands past my belly. I guided him with my own hands and gasped as he reached the spot. His fingers worked on me almost professionally as he nuzzled behind my ear, finally breaking the silence to whisper sweet nothings which had me smiling big.

 

* * *

 

 

“Come on, Stevie, we can’t be here all day!” I shouted at her, a few pints in me already.

“’Course we can!” said Link behind me. He was hugging me tight and resting his head on my shoulder.

“I can’t focus on you, guys. Just a moment!”

  
“Maybe if you leave it to someone who’s not actually drunk,” said a tall figure coming from behind the blonde. Rhett took the phone from her hands. “Now, you two lovebirds say _cheese_.”

“ _Cheeeeeese_ ,” I said. Link, instead, gave me a smooch on the cheek as two flashes proceeded to blind me for a few seconds.

“That’s a good one,” Rhett commented as we started laughing out loud for no reason at all. “And I’ll be driving you both home tonight.”

I’d been dating Link for two months now. He had started introducing me as his girlfriend only after a few weeks, not without asking me how I felt about it first. He began to add to his vocabulary nicknames like 'love', 'baby' and 'pretty' as naturally as he called my name and I mimicked these, making a few alterations of my own.

“It’s Becca’s birthday, Rhett,” Lizzie pointed out. “That means partying all night. No one’s going home until they’re sober again.”

“Let me change the rules a bit,” Becca said, appearing out of thin air. “No one’s going home until they’ve taken body shots off someone else.”

Everyone cheered except Rhett, who instead shook his head negatively. “Alright, I’ll be out on the balcony taking a nap.”

Most of the crew booed at him, while I gave him a wide smile. Link frowned.

“You said it was a friend of yours who liked Rhett, right?” He asked, signaling me to join him at the kitchen.

His comment took me by surprise. “Uh, yes? Steph.”

“It was her who convinced you to take the job with us so she could meet him,” he continued while everyone else started to line up. Stevie and her girlfriend were up first.

I mirrored his frowning. “Yes?”

“Mkay.”

“Why you ask?”

“Well,” he started, hands now in his pockets as he leant on the kitchen door frame. “I was just wondering why I never met this girl at all.” I looked at the floor. Not this conversation now. “Am I making you uncomfortable?” he wanted to make sure, but his tone was accusatory. He was making an effort in seeming casual, but knowing him the way I already did, I knew he’d been wanting to ask for a long time now.

“A bit. But it’s just because I think you might not like my answer.”

“I see…”

“Look, if I don’t say anything, you might jump to your own wrong conclusions.”

“Yeah, I already am.” He confirmed and threw a wary look in the direction of the balcony.

“Babe…”

He lowered his head and locked eyes with me without his glasses being in the way.

“Tell me I’m wrong.”

“You’re very wrong… and drunk.”

“Nah, I’m not.”

“Just let me explain the whole thing, okay? Before you say something stupid.”

“’Cause that’s to be expected of me, right?”

I took a deep breath; I didn’t want to start a fight.  
“She is a… hardcore fan of your show. You follow me?”

Link tilted his head and narrowed his eyes. “I follow you even less. How come she’s not around often? That doesn’t make any--“

“She can’t know about us, okay?!” The slightest rise of my voice made everyone stop and turn to watch.

_Great._

Link paid no mind of this and kept his eyes on me. He looked like he’d been slapped on the face.

“Am I supposed to be okay with you hiding me from other people?”

“No, of course not. There’s a reason I didn’t wanna tell you.”

He said my name in a very calm tone; apparently, he was trying to keep his cool. I stayed in place, not knowing whether to feel anger or sadness. I should’ve seen this coming.

“I swear I’m doing this for you. People don’t really need to know you’re dating me.”

“Don’t they?!” Link asked at the time Stevie tried to keep everyone’s attention away from us. “Why not ask me first? I’m actually proud to present you to the world as my partner.”

“You’re assuming I’m not.”

“Well, let’s not forget your boyfriend is a divorced man who makes a fool of himself on the internet.”

“I never said those things!”

“But you know they are true!” He towered over me, his face almost red with anger. I refrained from taking even one step back.

“I don’t care. I knew all that before we even started talking. And I’m with you now. I really don’t care.”

“Really?” He took his phone out of his pocket.

“What are you doing?” I asked, legitimately scared.

“Tweeting.”

I tried to snatch the phone from his hands but he was quicker. He walked in the direction of the bathroom and locked himself in.

“Oh, for God’s sake.” I knocked on the door once with a fist and I realized I was being childish. But so was he, so I had the right to make a scene.

I took my own phone out and tapped on the Twitter icon with a shaky finger, but my screen changed to an incoming call instead.

It was Steph.


	12. Part 12

The first lights of Sunday already bathed my sheets when Link called me.

“I hope you’re happy.” I said as soon as I answered.

“I’m sorry,” was all he said. I offered no reply, so he continued. “I’m not a spontaneous guy, I don’t know what came over me. Please forgive me.”

“It’s not that easy. We’re not talking about relatives or friends or even YouTube people. This is your audience. You tossed me on the grill like… People are generally being nice but are you aware of all the anonymous hate I’m getting on Tumblr? All the horrible stuff they’re saying. That comes with dating someone who has a wide female audience. I was trying to spare both of us from this as longer as I could. I hope you understand now.”

“Shit, I’m so sorry.”

“Enough with the apologies, Link. There’s nothing to be done now.”

I understood the reason for his silence right away.

“ _Link_ ,” he repeated after long seconds and let out a sarcastic and weak chuckle.

“That’s your name, isn’t it?” I replied, and for some reason I was wishing those words hurt him.

“It is,” he said and made another pause.

“We still need to shoot a More together this week so I’ll have to eat my anger and keep going. Oh, and maybe also shut down my Tumblr account.”

“Okay,” was all he could say. “I will… see you around, then.”

“You’ll see me.” I threw the phone to the end of my bed and I buried my face in my pillow.

I arrived at the office at half past ten the next morning, wishing with all my heart that Rhett and Link had a busy day and would not show in my field of vision all day.

As I expected, Stevie sent me an IM, urging me to go to her office.

“I really don’t want to talk about it.”

“It’s heavy stuff. Most people hadn’t yet even come to the conclusion he’d had a divorce.”

“I figured that much. My very best friend was one of those people.”

“You never told her?!”

“Please don’t look at me like that. I already feel like shit. We were not seeing each other much and now she won’t even talk to me anymore.”

“No, don’t feel like shit!” She rushed over to me and grabbed my shoulders. “You’ve done nothing wrong. Neither has Link.”

I snorted.

“He literally put the word out there on how much he likes you.”

“He claims he’s not impulsive but he cannot control an anxiety or anger fit, Stevie.”

“You knew that before you threw yourself at him—“

“I never did such thing!”

“—and you still love the guy the way he is, don’t you?”

She’d hit the right chore there. Or possibly the wrong one, as my eyes started to fill with tears.

“Are those happy tears?”

“I don’t know!”

Stevie laughed. “Let me guess, you never told him.”

“How could I?” I wiped my cheeks with a sleeve. “Does it even make sense to be this much in love, this soon?”

Stevie quickly switched to her motherly mode and placed a hand on either side of my face. “Are you seriously quantifying love?”

I covered my ears with desperation. “Don’t start with that… I don’t want to hear any corny fuckery.”

“I mean it! There are no rules in this. You just feel it.” She shrugged.

“Is that what happened to you?”

“A week, that’s all it took.” She smiled at the memory. “She’s far from perfect, but she’s perfect for me.”

“What if that’s not the case for us?”

“Take the risk and find out. Jump all in, head first. I believe you guys are worth it.”

I pondered on it.

“What he did only speeds things up. You couldn’t be keeping this in the shadows forever, could you?”

“I know that, I know. Okay… whatever.”

Even with all that, I left her office with a frown.

“Are you okay?” said Chase as soon as I sat back on my seat.

“Ah, yes.”

He got closer and whispered.

“If it serves as consolation, I get fan hate daily and I’m not dating Link. It’s just part of being out there, you know. You might get some more than the rest but at least you’re not totally alone.”

He smiled, satisfied with himself and patted my shoulder. I think I smiled back.

“Thank you.”

As I went back from the post office that afternoon, I made a decision.

**ME:**   
_The park bench, will you come?_

**LINK NEAL:**   
_@ a meeting…_   
_Gimme 20._

I sat down with my feet on the bench and hugged my legs.

_Does he need to know?_

_He seems to doubt your feelings sometimes, so I’d say he does._

_Why would he even doubt at this point?_

_His wife of sixteen years left him for someone else, remember?_

_Just tell him and get this over with._

“This is the park bench where we had our first proper chat.”

I turned to see him; he had a sappy smile on his face.

“Yes,” I replied and followed him with my eyes until he sat next to me. “You had a chocolate donut and I held your coffee.” Link leaned lazily on the bench and rested his head back, looking at the bright blue sky that matched his eyes perfectly. He crossed his arms.

“I’m an idiot.”

“No.”

“Yes, I am.”

“What about me?”

He moved his head to meet my eyes, his were soft and kind. “What about you?”

“I was unfair to you. I shouldn’t have reacted like that. I’m sorry.”

Link breathed deeply and took off his glasses. He looked tired.

“Did you sleep last night?” I asked him, shortening the distance between us and taking the glasses in my hands.

“Mmm, not much.”

I swallowed. I couldn’t just dive in; I needed a sign. But Link simply looked me in the eye, digging holes in my brain like he always did so well.

“I shot a Facebook video today,” he declared moments after.

My heart started to race.

“Okay…”

“I didn’t post it… yet. I was hoping you’d—“

“Just post it.” He seemed confused. “If you spoke from the heart I don’t think I could be mad at it. I just hope you didn’t have to resort to lashing at your audience.”

“I had a bit of help from Rhett not to do that, as ridiculous as that sounds...” He smiled faintly. “And yes, I spoke from the heart.”

He took my hand and interlaced his fingers with mine. He seemed uncertain.

I saw the question in his eyes and replied: “No, I don’t need to see it.” I closed the space between us and locked our lips together. Link smiled lightly into the kiss and his hands went to the back of my neck, pulling me further in.

We kissed quietly for long seconds before I pulled back and put the glasses back on his face, right before his bright blue eyes.

If there was ever a perfect moment to say it, that was it.

Link’s phone beeped in his pocket and we both sighed. He caressed my hair as he took it out.

As soon as he finally shifted his eyes from me to the screen, his eyebrows flew up.

“Everything alright?” I asked him.

“Uhh, yes. Yes, all cool.” His smile was the fakest he’d given me since the day we met.


	13. Part 13

“Hey, this is Miles, I’m contacting you for a job position at Phoenix Entertainment.”

“Oh, hi, Miles. Sorry, I already have a job and I’m not currently looking for a change.”

“Oh, I see. That’s really too bad because we can offer you—“

“It’s okay, I don’t want to waste your time… Miles, was it? I’m quite happy where I am.”

“Sure, okay, okay. Then you know just where to find me as soon as you finally need that change!”

“Absolutely. Have a great day, Miles.”

“First Candace, then Jen, now Becca… If we lose you as well I’ll be very depressed,” said Kevin after I ended the call.

“No worries, you’ll have to put up with me for as long as the guys want me here.” I saved the number as ‘Miles Phoenix’, why the hell not?

Kevin snorted.

“They both like you very much. One of them might even be into you.”

“For real? Tell me all about it!”

“You see, the shorter one… The other day he told Eddie and me that he hadn’t been able to concentrate all day because of the red skirt you were wearing. And he refers to you as ‘baby doll’ most of the time.”

“Does he?” I blushed.

“Yup, you should give him your number or something. If you’re into him as well, that is.”

“I might do that, yeah.”

We both paused and then giggled like little kids.

 

* * *

 

 

“Hey, beautiful,” Link’s voice brushed against my ear from behind me later that day.

“Hey, pretty eyes,” I replied and gave him a quick peck on the lips that took him by surprise. His lips curved in a lazy smile.

“Ready to shoot?” he asked as he stroked my arm.

“Yep. I see you’re playing with lights today,” I said as I took his cap off and put it on my own head.

“Oh, thanks. And that’s correct, ladee.”

“I like your stubble,” I added as I brushed a hand through his prickly face.

“The grey hairs are everywhere!”

“Don’t be silly, those really suit you.”

He frowned.

“I think so…”

I shook my head and patted his back as a reminder of the GMM episode he was about to shoot. Rhett nodded once at me and I nodded back.

Once we got to my bit, I tried to focus on the positive messages I’d gotten to be able to speak without stuttering. From time to time, my boyfriend would smile at me longer than required or rest his head on a hand to listen to what I was saying, sporting heavily dreamy eyes which had me blushing and looking down. I had finally dared to watch the video he’d posted a few days back and it had made me tear up a bit. The man next to me was ready to fight everything and everyone in order to continue to be with someone who had made him smile again after such difficult times. The feedback had been overwhelmingly positive.

Thinking back to Link’s video prompted me to brush my knee against his under the table. He didn’t take his eyes off Rhett, who was ranting about God-knows-what, but he distractingly took hold of my hand, stroking it with his thumb extremely softly.

 

* * *

 

 

Another week passed before Link’s mood suddenly changed. That Friday, he would no longer call me names other than babe, and every time he did so, his eyes were everywhere but on me. When I brought the idea of staying alone in the office until late, he seemed dismissive. ‘ _Maybe next week, don’t think Rhett and I will be done with the script until at least ten._ ’

  
His often deep and passionate kisses were now quick pecks, sometimes even on the cheek.

  
I spent the day excusing his attitude with everyone who asked by stating: ‘ _He’s just tired/stressed_ ’, but when Stevie also started asking me questions, I knew shit was hitting the fan.

I confronted him at the office he shared with Rhett at around four. “Are you okay? And don’t just say that you are because I’ve seen that look in your eyes before.”

“What are you talking about, babe?” Link said with a worried expression, pausing in the middle of frenetic typing.

“I trust you tell me whenever you’re not having the best of times.”

“I’m okay…” His hands, though, were shakier that usual.

“Link, look at me.”

Rhett had entered the room without making a noise, so when he suddenly spoke, we both jumped.

“Uhh, guys, if you’re in the middle of an argument then it’s probably not the best of times. But Stevie and I had this crazy idea for an episode that you might enjoy—“

“Definitely not the best of times, Rhett…” I replied. I knew I would regret snapping at the gentle giant later, but at the moment I saw no other choice.

“I’m looking at you,” Link finally replied.

“You can’t even look me in the eye for more than three seconds. What is going on?”

Rhett continued, hesitant: “Uhh, so… I’ll text you a hint in a bit. Might even help smooth things out a bit.”

Link swallowed and all of a sudden he rushed out of the room. Astonished, I followed him, running past a very confused Rhett, and calling his name as my heart beat faster than ever.

When we reached the empty reception, he unexpectedly stopped walking and faced me, said my name in a drowned voice and took a deep breath. “Alright, shit, there’s something I need you to know.” He took his phone out of his pocket and without glancing up at me again he held it for a few moments before I understood. Still, he explained: “She called last night.”

“ _Oh…_ ”

“Yeah.”

Still no eye contact from him. Both our phones beeped at that point but we ignored them.

“What did she say?” I asked, not really wanting a reply or to hold that conversation at all. After following him there, desperately demanding an explanation, I now wanted to leave.

Link made a few failed attempts at starting the next sentence and then he finally let it out. “She just wanted to know how I was and…” His voice sounded dim. “Meet so we could… you know, catch up.”

My brain could’ve easily been responsible for the subtle hint of hope I heard in his voice, but at the moment that hint was enough to make my heart break. It started breaking and it didn’t stop for the long seconds it took my boyfriend to reply to a question I hadn’t asked.

“I don’t know, I think…” he continued, but stopped there.

‘ _What do you think?_ ’ was what I wanted to say, and yet I couldn’t speak. He finally looked up at me and he must have seen something in my eyes that scared him because his very own baby blues widened and he hurried to add:

“Honey, I don’t… I think it’d be nice to just meet and talk, it doesn’t have to mean anything.”

It was hard to tell whether he was reassuring me or himself.

That’s when I would have replied with ‘ _It could, you don’t know that_ ’, but my mouth still refused to open. I was the one to look down now and I simply let myself sink in a sweet desperate feeling.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know how to tell you… I just… Are you… okay with this?” he wanted to know as he tried to search for my eyes again.

_No._

I shrugged.

He took my hand.

I didn’t want to cry in front of him. I didn’t want him to see how badly I was already hurting, but when I looked back up I could understand just how confused he was, and that set the deal. The reality hit me like a tidal wave. The same sudden and startling moment of realization that I had when I understood I loved him was now threatening to crawl all the way to my core, and succeeding. I could lose him.

Just by the time the tears started to fill my eyes, I set my hand free from his tight grip and turned my back on him. I walked as fast as I was able to as I could almost feel the sobs threatening to come out. I held them in and continued marching.

When I reached the front door and pulled, Link called my name about three times before I heard him shout a few profanities. My phone began ringing as I started walking down the street. I let it ring for long minutes, until he finally gave up.

I jumped on the first bus that I saw and I made sure to sit at the very back. I heard a new beep from my phone and took it out. I had two new messages from Rhett.

The one I had just received simply read:

**RHETT MC:**   
_What the hell happened?_

The previous one, that I was only just seeing, was a picture. I was smiling big while Link hugged me tight from behind and gave me a kiss on the cheek. His bright blue eyes were also looking at the camera and he had the cheekiest smirk on his face.

I couldn’t remember the last time I’d cried in public.


	14. Part 14

Steph handed me a handkerchief.

“I wish you would’ve told me before so I would feel completely bad for you.”

“Oh, thanks, friend.”

She sighed.

“I was just trying to make you laugh.”

“Doubt that’ll work.”

“What are you planning to do? I mean, you’re still working with them.”

“I don’t want to think about it,” I replied, desperate.

“Well, in two days you’ll have to.”

“I can just be sick.”

“For how long? Forever? Quitting sounds easier.”

My stomach sank at the time my phone beeped.

“No,” I replied to a question Steph hadn’t asked.

“What if it’s your mom?”

“It’s not her,” I said and wiped my runny nose.

“How--?”

“I have customized ringtones, remember?”

My friend went quiet for a few seconds.

“Is that…?”

“No.”

I looked at her and made a head movement that indicated she could go and check herself.

She did, hesitantly, and soon I had her gasping and making weird noises.

“Go ahead, read it. Doubt it will surprise me one bit; he’s been sending those all day.”

Shaking, she unlocked my phone and started to read:

**RHETT MC:**   
_At least let me know if you’re okay._

“Oh my God!”

“Steph, please.”

“I’m sorry.”

I sighed. “Text him back, if you want. Tell him it’s you.” Her eyes went wide as saucers. “Go ahead, tell him I’m feeling like shit and it’s his friend he should be lecturing.”

“You could… You know, be a bit nicer about it?” I threw her a look. “Okay.”

After a few more seconds, she announced (a bit louder than she probably should have): “He’s asking if he can call you.”

I took a deep breath. “Tell him that fine, whatever.”

“I can’t believe I’m texting Rhett.”

“Yeah…”

“Sorry, it’s just—“

“I understand,” I said as the phone rang. Steph went nuts and handed it to me. I limited my reply to a faint smile.

“No, please, no!” she pleaded.

I kept smiling and she had no other choice but to answer, not being strong enough to let the call go to voicemail. However, as soon as she said hi, she put on the speaker.

Rhett’s voice sounded weak, and that definitely caught my attention.

“ _Hi… Steph…_ ”

“H-hi, I um… You’re on speaker, Rhett…”

“ _I know_.” He called my name, I didn’t reply. I felt like a child. I didn’t deserve to be treated like one, though. There was silence and then Rhett spoke again: “ _Link’s not returning my calls._ ”

My heart skipped a beat.

“Well,” I said with a sardonic tone. “You’re probably interrupting something. Try again in a few hours.”

He said my name again, and this time he sounded angry. “ _You both have work to do and you just vanished._ ” He sighed. “ _Okay, look, I can understand if you're not feeling well, we can go on without social media for one afternoon, but Link and I had things scheduled ‘til at least ten. And I can’t freaking find him. If you could just--?_ ”

“What?” Steph gasped at my tone. “Give him a call? Are you listening to yourself? What part did you not get? Or do you just enjoy hearing me say it a thousand times? I’m NOT calling him, Rhett.”

“ _Okay, calm down… Link has never--_ ”

“I don’t want to hear that name.”

“ _You’re being childish._ ”

“Hang up, Steph.” My friend seemed to be having an inner fight. “Stephanie, finish the call.”

I walked up to her and yanked the phone from her shaky hands.

My finger hovered over the big red button. I pursed my lips.

“ _Would you listen to me? He freaking loves you._ ”

My friend saw me tap on the phone and gasped again, but when I pressed it to my ear she seemed relieved. Only I could hear him now.

“Don’t play with me.” I said while leaving the room.

“Look, I would _never_ say something like this if I didn’t know it’s true.”

“He loves her. One message from her and I’m no longer important. It was always her. I’m just some girl.” My eyes started to burn again and my throat felt tight.

“That’s _not_ true,” he said and I caught a faint hint of his southern accent.

It took me a while to be able to say something back, and when I did, my voice cracked: “He thought he could forget her, but it wasn’t enough. _I_ wasn’t enough. And that’s fine!”

“How can that be fine?”

“It has to be!” I sobbed. “I have no other choice than to be cool about it and move on.”

“That is totally not fair.”

“It is what it is,” I finished.

“Can I come over?”

“Not if you want my friend’s heart to keep functioning,” I managed to say.

The blond let out a snort and waited.

“You can come by tomorrow, if you want.”

“I will…”

“Look, give him some time, Rhett. He’ll come around… Let him breathe... I guess.”

He sighed. “Okay.”

It was four in the morning when I checked Link’s WhatsApp conversation screen. It had been only two minutes since his last connection.

Our last conversation was full of hearts and kisses; I shook my head negatively and smiled weakly. The man who had barely ever used an emoji in his life, seemed to only be capable of greet me good morning and good night with them. But that was before. He was probably now using those emojis in another conversation.

                                                         

He showed as _Online_ and my heart sank. He remained that way for as long as I could bear staring at his picture. I closed the app and took a moment to imagine the chat he was now probably having. Something about arranging when to meet, one of them asking the other how they felt about it all, and the other telling them it was possibly best to wait until the meeting to talk in depth. A back and forth recommendation of different bars and restaurants, filtered by locations which were suitable for them both, and probably also a question or two about what the other was wearing.

I went back to the app. Still online. They had been missing each other terribly so it made sense for someone like Link to not be able to put his phone down. What if she changed her mind? What if she couldn’t wait and went to that other guy? He needed to get her attention.

                                                         

I felt my legs go numb.

I didn’t have time to leave the conversation before a message appeared below:

 

                                                          

 

_Shit._

I couldn’t get out of this one, I had just read his message as soon as he sent it. There was no escape.

                                                                                                                            

                                                           

                                                                                                                                                    

 

He stayed online but didn’t reply. I sighed.

 

                                                                                                                                                                                       

                                                             

 

I didn’t really feel like talking to him but…

                                                                                                                                                                           

It took him two minutes to reply, and I instantly regretted having continued the conversation. But when his message showed below mine, I knew our little chat was over.  
  


                                                              

 

I plugged the charger chord to my phone and hid it under my pillow. I didn’t feel it vibrate again during the night.

_Go bother your ex, Neal._


	15. Part 15

“So you can stop worrying, he’s alive.”

“And getting drunk alone at four am. Nice,” Rhett concluded as he walked through my front door. “I like what you did with this place.”

“You mean the piano sheets on the floor? Yeah, thought they would go well with the food wrappings on the table and the magazines on the couch. That way I don’t feel tempted to sleep anywhere else than my bed. You know I have a bad back.”

Rhett smiled. “Yeah, well, symbolic high five on that one. And careful with those wrappings, I read they're bad to have around.”

“I'll keep that in mind. Have a sit,” I offered as I cleared the couch.

“Thank you.”

Once he ceased being two feet taller than me, he started to speak: “I already knew he was alive and kicking,” he declared. “He came to see me this morning.”

“Oh. And how was he?”

“Well, his hair has seen better days. Other than that, he seemed okay.”

A part of me, a very damaged and selfish one, expected to hear the opposite.

“Did he mention drunk-texting me at all?”

“Doubt he remembered.”

“Didn’t he check his phone? If he does, he’ll see my conversation with him as one of the latest (if not the latest). That would be below all the sexting with her, of course.” I crossed my arms in front of me.

“You’re exactly like him; you both overthink as a hobby.” I pretended to have not heard that. “I doubt he will say something about it… at least today.”

His eyes denoted he was expecting me to understand, and I did.

“It’s today, isn’t it?”

“Aham…”

“That’s terrific, thanks for the heads up. If you want, we can watch this Superbowl recording my dad lent me to record stuff over? It’s from like ten years ago but the commercials are worth—“

“No, no, listen. He feels terrible.”

“Ah, he feels terrible now?” I asked in a sarcastic manner.

“He has since she first texted him a few weeks ago.”

I made a face and started waltzing around the living room. “A few weeks ago? Oh, that’s great, if there’s something more amazing than finding out you’ve been cheated on is knowing you have been for longer than you thought. Any other great news you feel like sharing? You gonna be an uncle or som'ing?”

“Okay, first of all, you totally picked his accent.” I snorted and turned my back on him. “Second of all, no baby. Third and most important of all, he hasn’t cheated.

She texted him, he replied weeks later, and all he ever said to her was agreeing on her calling him. She did, yesterday, and that’s that. They’re meeting, like adults, to talk, and give things the closure they deserve.”

I remained in silence before I let out a few chuckles. I faced Rhett again. “And I’m supposed to sit and knit him a scarf, waiting for him to return from his _meeting_?” I drew air quotes with my fingers. “And then just move on and continue dating him as if nothing happened?”

“ _Nothing_ _happened_.”

“Rhett, you didn’t see his face. You didn’t. He is _happy_ she called. His face…”

“No…”

“Why would he be hiding it from me? Why would he not look at me when he told me? _Huh?_ Why would he get drunk over it? If he feels guilty at all, it’s enough proof for me.”

“You don’t understand…”

“Why are you even telling me those things, anyway? All he said to you today, why _tell_ me?”

“Believe it or not, miss, I care about the two of you.”

I didn’t want to hurt Rhett. I didn’t want to remind him we were barely close.

“I thought you hated me.”

He seemed both amused and surprised. “What in the _world_?”

“You always gave me these looks, like… I wish he hadn’t met you, I wish he could focus on work… I don’t know, Rhett; that was my impression.”

“Well, exactly, _your_ impression. _Scared_ is probably a better word. That he could suffer again so soon, I don’t know... Don’t tell him that.”

“I won’t tell him his best friend has feelings, no worries.”

He smiled.

 

* * *

 

 

I gathered enough strength to go to work on Monday and made sure to have a speech prepared in case Link wanted to talk face to face. I was sure it would happen at some point.

But he didn’t show up during the morning, or after lunch, and anxiousness started to grow inside of me like a maple tree. Stevie seemed to be aware of my mental state and did her best to keep my attention on work, but it soon proved to be fruitless. Yes, I was mad and hurt, but you don’t just stop caring about someone in the blink of an eye.

My legs felt heavy, but I needed to know.

“Uhh, you probably don’t want to go in there,” Lizzie caught me off guard on my way to their office.

“Why not?” I replied, defensive.

“They’re practicing a song and told us to please not interrupt,” she rolled her eyes as though she meant ‘typical Rhett and Link’, but it wasn’t. They would practice their songs mostly at night when everyone was gone, and if they had the rush to write something, it was truly not typical of them to keep everyone out; no one would really go inside after hearing music. Was I overthinking again?

“Sure,” I replied with a fake smile. The fact that she would not move from her spot did nothing but confirm my suspicions. Also, I realized then, no one other than Stevie asking me about Link (I was sure everyone had heard about our scene on Friday), was the fishiest thing.

I pretended to go to the bathroom and waited there for about twenty minutes. I couldn’t help feeling ridiculous but desperate times call for desperate measures, right?

I peeked the hall outside; deserted. I moved as smoothly as I could and finally completed my journey.

At the time I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it certainly wasn’t this.

The door was closed, but the shouting inside was hard to isolate nonetheless. Rhett’s voice was the firmest, but Link’s was the loudest.

“You lost all logic, man. You gone insane, I tell ya.”

“WELL, I DON’T THINK I HAVE!”

“What the heck are you even doing to yourself?!”

“I’M BEING REASONABLE, DUDE!”

“Come on, you’re not even trying…”

“I’M RIGHT, I KNOW I AM.”

I heard a rattling noise and then, nothing.

“Link, you’ve completely lost your mind,” Rhett said finally.

“You know her…” Link added, defeated. “After all this time, you know her, Rhett.”

_I would’ve thought it was rather obvious your best friend is well-acquainted with your ex-wife after sixteen years, but you could never resist the drama, Charles._

Rhett apparently had the same thought because he sighed, exhausted.

“Aham, I do. And that proves what, exactly?”

“You know she deserves better.”

_Why are you even going back to this thought? Just fucking move on._

A pause. I imagined Rhett comforting his friend somehow.

“You should just talk to her.”

“Already did, didn’t work.”

_So your little date was a failure, huh?_

“I don’t think you tried hard enough.”

_Wow, thanks, Rhett._

“I feel like shit, dude. I can’t make things right.”

I wondered how much more of that conversation I would have the strength to hear, but I didn’t have to wonder for too long, since the door in front of me suddenly opened almost completely to reveal a red-eyed Link. Widened eyes and gaped mouth, he seemed at a loss for words, but so did I. It was all up to Rhett now.

“Oh, hey…”

I offered no reply.

He came closer to stand by his friend and added: “I can leave you two alone, if you want.”

“Wait,” both Link and I said.

“I was just leaving anyway!” Rhett walked past me and disappeared around the corner of the hall. I could feel Link’s eyes on the side of my face. I turned to see him again.

Not only his eyes were red, they looked puffy and there were bags under them. His hair was only combed to a minimum that day and he had dressed himself in the most depressing colors I’d ever seen on him. Even his baby blues looked less bright.

“Come on in,” he finally said to me, stepping to his side. His voice sounded coarse.

I walked past him and into his office and he closed the door behind me. “Sleeping,” I told him as I sat on my usual spot, his armchair. “You should try that sometime.”

He stared at me expressionless and made his way to stand in front of me. He swallowed.

“Are you sitting down?” I said.

“I’m fine here,” Link replied, slipping his hands into his pockets, thumbs out. He looked down. “How you been?”

It had only been a weekend, but I couldn’t argue with that; it had felt like a whole week to me.

“Not great,” I declared. Link nodded slowly, still not looking up. He sniffed and cleared his throat. I continued: “First of all, I’m sorry for running away and leaving work like that. Regardless of… what put me in that state, I wanted to apologize for my behavior.”

Link took a deep breath. “It’s okay, I left too… later.”

“Yeah… Well…”

“And I’m sorry for texting you while I had alcohol in my system.” He looked at the wall behind me and shrugged, raising his eyebrows. “That was stupid,” he admitted.

“It’s okay, Link.”

His eyes finally shifted to meet mine, and my heart skipped a beat.

“Are you okay?” I felt like asking.

He readjusted his stance and looked away again, curving his lips into a forced smile. “You sound weird.”

“Weird how?”

“I dunno, just different.”

_Of course._

“Link, we need to talk.”

Now it was his turn to be sarcastic. “I thought that’s what we were doing now.”

“You know what I mean,” I said, standing up. He was still seven inches taller than me, but that didn’t make me feel intimidated.

“I understand—“

“Link, let me talk… Please.” He stayed in place, dead serious now.

_How do you even do this?_

_Don’t be cliché._

_I don’t even have to be. 'It’s not you, it’s me'? That shit doesn’t even apply. It’s him._

He was listening avidly, waiting, but I had nothing.

He gave me an inquisitive look.

“I can’t do this.”

“What, exactly?”

“ _This_. Us. It’s ridiculous.”

“I agree.”

“Please, understand that…” I finally processed his reply. “You agree, huh? Of course you agree.”

“I agree it’s ridiculous. I’m a mess, girl. And you…” He motioned at me, failing to find the right words.

I frowned. “Are you even listening to yourself?”

“I‘m sure you can do much better than this.” His voice broke.

I shook my head. “I can’t believe this.”

“Are you breaking up with me?” he said, looking defeated.

“I just don’t see how this can work if you’re still pining over your ex-wife! How could I just be fine with that?”

Link’s eyes widened. “What are you talking about?”

“The fact that you seem to be okay with this. The fact that you keep bashing yourself as if I had no word in it… I can’t deal with this anymore.”

Words were streaming out of my mouth and I couldn’t stop them now. He was making things too easy.

“You’re wrong, girl, you got it wrong.”

“Please!” I snorted.

“Look, I’ll own everything else you just said. I’m a moron and don’t think you should waste your time on me, especially after what I made you go through—“

I snorted again. He turned red.

“But _shit_ , I’m _done_ with her, okay?! It’s _over_!” There was his accent again.

I walked around the room, as far from him as possible. I tried to count to six, took two deep breaths and then I turned to see him again. He took a few steps towards me.

“I don’t know, Link.”

“Please don’t call me that…” His eyes were red again. If he was crying, I couldn’t tell. And I didn’t want to care.

I was hurting and I felt like hurting.

“That’s your name!! It’s over, Link!” I pointed an accusatory finger at him with my every phrase. “Think things over, think about what you really want. Make up with yourself, fucking learn to accept yourself and then go out and try again. _With someone else_.”

The tall brunet looked small and miserable. I let out a cry and strode to where he was. Link’s eyes dug holes into mine. I dared to move even closer and I could see he was shaking.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered.

My mind was spinning. I was too confused.

I expected him to lash out at me, but he slowly leaned his forehead on mine, closing his eyes.

I was still curious to know how he felt, but he was giving me nothing. Just accepting things as they happened.

I couldn’t ask. I couldn’t say any more either. It wasn’t a good time to say it, but I still felt it. And all those seemed like good enough reasons.

Link moved his face a bit in a very intimate attempt to kiss me one last time, but I shifted away from him. I closed the door and hurried down the hall, not wanting to ever know in what state I had left the man I still loved.


	16. Part 16

My pillow soon became my best friend, and not in a filthy way. I would spend entire evenings after work trying to come to terms with something that escaped my mind for at least a week.

I felt lonely.

It was hard for me to admit it, even to myself, but as soon as the thought hit me, I finally felt my cheeks warm and I knew I was now one step further.

Note to self, never again place all your hopes and expectations in that one person. Once they’re gone, you’ll feel your whole world crashing around you, and you’ll find little to no reasons to get up in the morning.

Text messages from Steph, Stevie or even my mom would be the only thing to force my out of bed sometimes, and I only ate because I knew I would die if I didn’t.

My dreams would consist of random rushed images of happy scenes from a not-so-distant past, blurry and ridiculous images from an impossible future and depressing and grey scenarios from my inevitable present. I would hate myself for the latter; I didn’t need to dream about what I was already struggling with living, thank you very much. But as days went by, I decided I had it all coming. I accepted it. The alternative would be to spend my days thinking of myself as not enough, as someone he was wasting his time on, knowing he would somehow believe all those things in reverse.

It was too late to consider the fairness of what I had done. Rhett kept repeating I had made a terrible decision, but his words always denoted he also believed his friend was damaged and needed time, so after a while he stopped hunting me for it. Even the loss of that made me feel empty. Having no Rhett or Stevie or Steph give me advice about Link anymore made it feel more real, more final.

I would no longer participate visibly on the show, so that meant no reason to talk to the glassesed man at all. I would only catch a glimpse of him walking around the studio, but he now seemed like a ghost to me. Someone I could see but never reach.

Eddie would come up to check on me at least twice a day, hinting at the possibility of me leaving, but I always felt like changing the subject. I couldn’t really let go, and that made me feel pathetic.

One Thursday evening I found myself to be the last person there, too caught up in a new Facebook post about Rhett and Link’s new book. Rhett had given me the outlines and trusted me to fill up the blanks with whatever words I found to get the fans hooked. I looked at Link’s face in the provisional cover picture. What a silly man he was. He deserved to be his crazy self more often, and yet he had to cope with his long-term marriage ending, only to follow that up with a short relationship that simply managed to leave him more scarred. His audience knew. The comments they were getting these days had a dangerously high percentage of nosy people trying to get more details about why Link Neal’s mood had shifted for the worse _again_. You didn’t need to be a psychologist to put two and two together here, especially after I disappeared from the picture, literally.

I decided to sit through Friday’s shooting for the More, but made sure to be at the very back. Link didn’t notice I was there, for sure. His hair was looking better and his bags were gone, but his laughter was forced and he seemed to check out of the conversation at random moments, leaving Rhett with the task of pedaling the episode forwards.

They were going to Sundance in two days, it seemed, and they were planning to return after a week. I sighed and looked down.

Rhett wanted to talk about the book now, so I had to pay more attention to be able to get every little detail right in case of future promotions. He rubbed his hands on the desk, clearly excited about the subject, and started describing how they’d wanted to pour as much of themselves into the book as possible. Link would join in at times; it looked like this was something that made him happy. I smiled.

“… because we have a lot of history, shared history,” said Rhett. “Just like every single one of you, we both had our first crush, our first kiss.”

“ _That_ in particular we didn’t share.” The crew laughed.

“Well, we _did_ date and kiss the same girls for the first time, though.”

“That’s true.”

“We both had our hearts broken,” Rhett kept recounting. “We both lost people we loved…”

“Also true,” Link added while looking down. I felt everyone's gaze but his on me almost instantly. Even Rhett's, who somehow could see me all the way from their desk.

My heart sank. Did he mean…? No, stop.

I got up and left the room. My phone was in my hand before I could even make up my mind, and my shaky fingers were already selecting a contact.

“Hello?”

“Miles? You called a few weeks ago for a job offering?”

He said my name with surprise and delight in his voice. “You changed your mind?”

I pictured Link’s blue eyes very clearly in my mind. “Yes.”

 

* * *

 

Miles Crawford was a skinny curly-haired guy, a little less than six-feet tall, with narrow face, angular cheekbones and a pointed chin. His stubble scraped my face when he greeted me with a kiss on the cheek.

“Sorry,” he said, clearly noticing my slight discomfort. “I come from an Italian family and I’m used to greeting people like that. I can stop doing it if you want.”

I pondered on it. “Well, it’s either that or you shave, but that look really suits you.”

He seemed surprised at my natural flirting, and so did I. He smiled widely nonetheless and proceeded to guide me through their studio.

My job was a very similar one to what I had been doing for Mythical Entertainment, so I only needed to look out for any particular signs of restrictions in terms of work hours or days off.

After everything proved to be almost too perfect, I decided not to dance around the idea too much, so that very afternoon I went to Stevie’s office and gave her the news.

“I can’t say I’m surprised, really. I’m just quite sad things turned out this way.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry, no. You’re not comfortable working like this... It’s only fair.”

“You were always too understanding with me for someone who’s constantly under stress. I’m half hoping you’ll suddenly open your drawer and take your shotgun or something.”

She laughed timidly.

“Just promise me we’ll still meet and get drunk together.”

“Of course,” I smiled. “Umm… I wouldn’t mind if um… Link didn’t find out until I’m gone.”

“Oh…”

“That means no special mentions and no team goodbye meetings… No nothing. Please?”

She sighed. “I guess that makes sense.”

“Thank you.”

It was hard saying goodbye to people like Lizzie or Chase. Eddie, on the other hand, tried to avoid the awkwardness and joked about how he would follow me to Phoenix Entertainment in the blink of an eye if I confirmed the food was good. Kevin gave me a tight hug and made me promise I’d be in touch.

I didn’t want to stop seeing these people daily, but it would be for the best.

A hug I definitely didn’t expect, though, came from Rhett. He intercepted me in the parking space and told me to wait for him. When he leaned over and wrapped his arms around me, I finally let some tears out.

I laughed out of nervousness and he could hear my sobs. He let me go and looked me in the eye.

“Hey, don’t be a stranger.”

“I won’t. Thanks for everything.”

“Thank _you_.”

“Take… take care of him, will ya? Make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid.” Rhett nodded. I hiccuped and added: “Also make sure he doesn’t date someone new until he… realizes how beautiful he is. Inside and out.” The blond awarded me with the purest and most knowing smile he had ever worn for me. “And I’ll better leave before this gets any cornier.”

He laughed out loud and handed me a Mythical Beast patch. “Here, have this on your desk so they remember who’s best.” This time I laughed.

To make a long story short, Miles soon proved to be even flirtier than I could ever be, and made a move on me about a week after I started working there. Luckily he wasn’t the boss around there; I didn’t want everyone else in the Crew to think I dated my bosses to secure my position or anything.

Needless to say, then, I said ‘yes’ without thinking it much; I needed to move forward. I needed to kiss other lips before my mind would set to forever dream about Link’s.

Link didn’t text me when he found I wasn’t working with them anymore, but I did hear from practically everyone about how upset he got, and how he stormed off the building to return a couple hours later.

According to Stevie, it took them a while to fill my position again, and when they did, the poor soul had to leave after only a few days as a result of Link correcting everything she did and scolding her for arriving ten minutes late in the morning. I tried to pay no mind to all that and focus on my new work and date. I didn’t want to call him ‘my boyfriend’ just yet as it was too soon, but after he invited me over and we had our first night together, I saw the relationship titles flying towards us in the distance.

He approached me one Monday morning and inquired me on what I wanted.

“I guess it’s fun dating and all,” I replied. I seemed to have lost much of my social skills. He, of course, made a face. “I mean,” I hurried to add, “we have fun together and that’s enough for me right now. I wouldn’t want to move too fast, you know?”

“I understand, yeah.” He ran a hand through his sandy curls. “I really like you.”

“Thanks,” I said. I instantly regretted it. “I mean, I like you too. I think you’re great.”

“I’d love to call you my girlfriend.” I sighed. Where did that cliché of the girl being almost always the one in a hurry to put titles even come from?!

“Um… I’m not sure I’m read—“

“You’re fine!” He assured me. “You’re doing great, we just need to make it official so your mind turns into a white sheet…” What the hell was he talking about? “… and you’re finally free.”

“Fine, okay, sure.”

_Most romantic relationship proposal in history._

I was having a good time, though. Miles knew the best places to eat, he had a great taste in movies and music, and was a surprisingly amazing cook. I could never be bored with him, so between that and work my mind had little to no time to think about you-know-who.

But was he okay after a month?

I needed to know.

I reactivated my Tumblr ask box with shaky hands. Was it worth it? I was about to find out. I could always trust the fandom to know about stuff that my friends probably wouldn’t want me to know. I hadn’t been watching GMM at all so I didn’t know what his overall mood was.

It wasn’t until a few hours later that I saw my Inbox had a few private messages already.

                                                    

 

I felt my heart break and I hated it. I hated what he could make me feel, and I hated myself for feeling it. But not him. The Instagram picture depicted a pink-haired girl, indeed, and Link was holding her hand while walking down the streets of Sundance. Rhett followed a few steps behind wearing a wary look on his face. They were all in winter clothes.

I closed my laptop with a loud noise and invited Miles over for dinner that night. I needed to stop thinking about him. It was _over_.

 

* * *

 

 

“You did _what_?!”

“I called him ‘Charles’ in bed.”

Stevie gasped even louder than the first time.

“You want me to say it again?”

“Oh my Gosh…”

“Doubt it took him much research; by now he must know who I was thinking about.”

“What did he say when you said that?!”

“He pretended not to have heard it, I guess it would have spoiled the mood.”

“Nothing spoils the mood more than your partner moaning someone else’s name.”

“ _Screaming_ ,” I corrected her.

She cracked up.

“Oh, come on, it’s not funny! I’m a fucking mess!”

“Just give it some more time, and space… That’s all you need. It will pass,” she assured me.


	17. Part 17

> _**\---   “Absence makes the heart grow fonder.”   ---** _
> 
>  

Valentine’s Day rolled around and Miles didn’t miss a beat. He took me to the fanciest restaurant I’d ever set foot into, and I ate the weirdest-named food which thankfully tasted delicious.

“You know what?” he said sometime around ten, just by the time I felt the need to zip off my skirt and release the pressure on my poor full belly.

“What?” I replied, taking a sip off my glass of wine. I hated wine.

“I think it’s time for you to meet my parents!”

I choked on the wine just like in the movies. Gotta admit I’d always wanted that to happen naturally.

“You think?”

He laughed. “Don’t worry, they’re adorable, just like you are. You’ll get along perfectly!”

“Great, then!”

“That sets the deal, then, we’ll go and see them this weekend.”

I felt butterflies in my stomach and I prayed for my life.

 

* * *

 

  
“Honey, nice to meet you!” Miles’ mother, Mrs Crawford, was the tiniest woman I’d ever met, but gave the strongest hugs and the loudest kisses. I loved her immediately.

“Nice to meet you too,” I smiled.

I soon learned his dad would be harder to please. He was tall and hairy all over except for his polished head, in which I could see my pathetic reflection. He still smiled at me and gave me a kiss on the cheek.

As I was talking with them during lunch, I couldn’t help but stop to think how I’d never gotten to meet Link’s parents. They lived in another state after all, but I knew they were the nicest people.

I wondered if that new girl would get to meet them someday.

I needed to cut that shit _immediately_.

“More smashed potatoes?” Mrs Crawford startled me. I looked at my left; Miles was giving me a worried look.

I went to bed early that night, but I didn’t feel sleepy at all.

Had Rhett failed to shake some sense out of Link and convince him not to date anyone yet? He was definitely not ready. But was I?

If Link’s ridiculous idea of me deserving better had any truth to it, Miles _definitely_ was a stronger example of that.

I really liked the guy, I truly honestly did. But there was a reason for me not being able to quit my unhealthy habit of staring at Link’s WhatsApp chat every night. He still hadn’t changed his picture or status. He hadn’t made a Facebook video stating his reasons behind his new love.

A selfish part of me thought he was probably using her without any of them knowing. But that was just wishful thinking. No.

Still on their Facebook page, my clicks took me to the last video I should have probably been watching at the time.

“I never thought I would be able to feel butterflies in my stomach again, but here I am. She makes me happy…” Link’s voice broke at that point. Fresh tears ran across my cheeks. “She just does!” He smiled and his eyes were pure and sincere. After a long pause, he added: “So I hope you Mythical Beasts can let her into your lives just like I did. I can assure you it’s the best decision you’ll ever make.”

I sobbed as I let it sink in, sadly too late. He _had_ loved me.

 

**_\---   “Love is when the other person's happiness is more important than your own.”   ---_ **

 

“It’s you, isn’t it?” A high-pitched voice said to my right as I was waiting to cross a very crowded LA street.

“Huh?” I turned just in time before the pink-haired girl grabbed my arm and gave me a smooch on the cheek.

“I’m Clara, you must be…”

“Your boyfriend’s ex-girlfriend who is finding all this a bit awkward?” I replied.

She laughed, probably a bit too loud. “It shouldn’t be awkward when you’re both already dating other people, right?”

“Right.” I bit the inside of my cheek. “So… how ya doin’?”

“Whoa, he never told me you were also from the south!”

“I’m not. And why would he?” I tried to keep walking but she kept blocking my way. She was way too hyper for me to handle it.

“Well, he’s mentioned you a couple times. You sound like a great girl.”

I made a face.

“Thanks. Um, so, give him my… Just tell him I said hi, okay?”

“I will! I was thinking it’d be great to hang out sometimes, girl’s day out?”

_Probably not._

“You think?”

“Absolutely! We seem to have a connection.”

_Yup, we fucked the same guy, totally sisters._

“So, _whatcha_ have in mind, Clara?”

“Starbucks, maybe? Or how about…” She gasped, startling me. I wanted to walk away before my nerves exploded. “There’s this Escape the Room thingy that just opened in LA… Link and I were thinking about going soon.” I felt a pinch in my stomach. “You and your guy can come, and we can have a couple-off! You in?”

I raised my eyebrows. “That doesn’t sound bad, actually.”

She clapped her hands together and jumped a few times. “So that’s decided, then! Saturday?”

“Saturday.” Why was I agreeing on this?

“Great! So I’ll give you my number.”

Her voice was already giving me a headache.

“I hope you’re not one of those who only send WhatsApp audios, ha!” I commented.

“Oh, no, I hate audios. They make me sound like a chipmunk.”

And thus, she created her own nickname.

As soon as Alvin and I finished exchanging numbers, she gave me another smooch and walked away. At that moment I didn’t even remember where I was going before the encounter, so I just made sure to go in the opposite direction.


	18. Part 18

Once again, I didn’t know what to expect from my meeting with him, but what happened definitely wasn’t it. A calm and collected Link Neal greeted me with a side hug that pretended to seem natural but we both knew things were far from that. We hadn’t even touched since the day I’d left him, and this time around we were facing each other again accompanied by other people.

Miles made sure to leave his hand on the low of my back at all times as if he was marking his territory, something I didn’t particularly love. Alvin hooked her arm around Link’s and sported a smile too big for her thin face, not letting me forget for one second how annoying I found her high-pitched voice.

“You guys ready? They say the challenge is different everyday so we won’t know what we’re getting until we’re inside!” She made an excited noise. Miles and I went _'Oh!'_ , while Link seemed to find the sign on the entrance too interesting. “I’m Clara, I called two days ago?” She told the girl at the reception. Once we got our tickets, we went past a black curtain as I struggled to remember what had brought me to accept such an invitation.

The dim-lit room we found ourselves in next only had a couple screens on the walls which all read “EXIT – WALL ROOM” in a green font. A voiceover recording started to explain rules and instructions I failed to pay attention to. Miles hugged me from behind and rested his head on my shoulder.

“You guys are the cutest thi--!” Carla started, but Link interrupted her.

“We’re supposed to be listening to this. We got the Wall Room.”

“Right, sorry,” she said and smiled at us again before returning her eyes to the nearest screen.

The voice continued: “ _You must use your brain and get out before the roof hits you_.”

“What?” we all said except Link, who turned to see us as if we were all kids.

“Answer shit, get the keys, get the hell out before you’re squashed,” he clarified with the monotonous tone of a boring old History professor. “Alright, then. Sounds like fun.” I knew the tall guy well enough to detect the sarcasm in that line. He lined up in front of the closed door before us and turned the handle.

We were now in a bright white room in which the roof seemed higher than normal. The wall to our right had a couple mirrors on it, in which I was able to see what an interesting group we were. Link was determined to be the dad, telling everyone what to do and taking things seriously but at the same time seeming like he wanted to be done with the whole thing as soon as possible. I wondered if Alvin was aware of this, as she would randomly look at him and _squee_ in excitement.

The wall to our left was decorated with shelves with loads of random objects on them, and the one facing us only had three maps. On the floor near my feet I saw three numbered boxes.

“ _1, 2, 3,_ ” read Miles behind me at the time we heard a loud siren. Alvin screamed in fear as the roof started to slowly come to us. “Don’t worry, this should be easy. And we won’t die in here unless these people want a lawsuit.”

“Next thing we know, the place is run by mental hospital fugitives,” I mumbled. Link glanced at me and smirked, but he quickly shifted his eyes back to the boxes.

“So, what about these?” I said.

Alvin, who still didn’t seem too convinced she wasn’t going to get ‘flattened’ for real, replied: “I think the keys we need to find will open them, right?”

“Right,” Link said. He leaned to read the signs on the boxes. “So there’s something written below each of the numbers. Number 1 says ‘Rhymes with, minus _e_.’”

“That’s a clue?” Alvin asked.

“Guess everything’s a clue here,” Miles added but got no response.

“Well, there are three maps over there…” the brunet said, pointing at them. One showed Africa, Europe and Asia, the second was of North and South America and the third one, Oceania.

“Yes, look, the sizes match the size of the boxes.” I pointed out.

“Perfect.”

“That’s smart!” Alvin shouted.

“So the clues to open each of these will be on each of the maps,” said Miles.

“I guess, yup,” I replied. Link sighed. “Or maybe that’s just to mislead us, I dunno,” I added.

Alvin walked over to Link and examined the wall with narrowed eyes. “So number 1 is Oceania…” She touched the map all over, which seemed like a pointless thing to do but… “HERE!” she took the left corner of the picture and pulled, peeling the paper until we saw what laid behind it. “I may have found something!” added the pink-haired girl.

“You sure did,” replied Link, smiling big.

Behind the map, there were several ‘EXIT’ logos.

“That’s eight,” Miles informed. The roof kept moving at a very slow pace, but the fact that it didn’t stop made the tension in the room build up like crazy. “So what about it?”

Link and I looked at each other. “Rhymes with?” we said in unison.

“Oooohh,” Miles exclaimed. “ _Eight_ , um…”

“Quick!” Alvin apparently wasn’t able to control her nerves for too long.

“Bait?”

Link turned around to face the shelves and peeked through the objects intensely. “Hmm, nope. Keep it going!”

“Date!”

“Crate!”

“FATE.”

“SHOOT, I NEED OBJECTS, PEOPLE!”

“SKATE.”

“PLATE.”

Alvin grabbed her own head. “Oh no, oh no!”

I walked to where she was and patted her back. It suddenly hit me: “BATE, LINK, _BATE_!”

“WHAT THE CRAP DO YOU MEAN ‘BAIT’?! WE ALREADY SAID ‘BAIT’!”

“I MEAN ‘BATE’, ‘B’, ‘A’, ‘T’, ‘E’!”

He turned to see me and had his crazy eyes on. “THAT’S A VERB!!!”

“MINUS ‘E’!!!”

He turned back to the shelves again and it hit him too. “YES!” He grabbed a green baseball bat that laid horizontally on the top shelf, hidden under a flowered neckless and looked for signs of slots or openings. “WOO!” He screamed as he faced us again with a small key on the palm of his hand.

The rest of us started to call him back to the first box, and as soon as he inserted the key and turned, we heard a new loud noise and noticed the roof had stopped moving.

We all sighed in relief.

“Still not over,” Miles reminded everyone.

“You okay?” Link asked his girl. She nodded and smiled lovingly at him. I decided that was okay and smiled too.

He opened the box to reveal a note and…

“Handcuffs?” Alvin said in a high-pitched tone of surprise.

“What does the note say? Should’ve brought my glasses,” I said.

“What a loser,” Link whispered. I threw him a look and he flashed his tongue out playfully before he carefully started to read the note in his hand. He suddenly frowned.

“What’s it say?!” Alvin asked.

The glassesed man lifted his face and fixed his eyes on mine. “Shoot.”

“What?” I dug holes in his brain. “WHAT?”

I yanked the paper sheet from his hand and read. “ _Oh_.”

It was Miles’ turn to get the note now. “I’ll do it,” he finally declared, dead serious.

“Come on, baby, it’s not like I’m gonna rot in here, is it? And I doubt you can just change the rules,” I told him. He didn’t seem too convinced.

“What does it say?!” Alvin was losing herself at that point, but the note was about to make things easier in that case.

“You can leave, baby,” Link told her, and took her hand in his. “It says you can leave.”

Her eyes almost popped out. “What? Does it say my name?”

“ _Welcome to Phase 2_ ,” I read for her. “ _The person who first unveiled the clue behind the map will be able to leave the room, for they were quick. But the person who guessed the key word will be chained to the floor, for they could have been quicker._ ”

“That’s unfair!” Alvin cried.

“More like ridiculous and nonsensical,” my boyfriend complained.

“Just a touch of drama, and lazy writing,” I smiled. I could see Link’s frown out of the corner of my eye. “I’ll be fine, just unable to leave the room as the roof threatens to make out with me. _Chop, chop,_ everyone, we got work to do!”

Link accompanied Alvin to the door and kissed her cheek. “See you in a bit,” he reassured her.

“I’ll be cheering for you, guys!” She nodded at me with a smile as she exited back into the darkness. The door closed again behind her at the time the siren deafened us once more and the roof resumed its threatening slow but constant race to meet us. By the time Link and Miles turned to me again, I had already done what I was told by a sheet of paper and handcuffed myself to a hook right in the middle of the room.

“Great, so what now?”

“Map 2, come on!” Miles shouted and hurried to the wall, stroking everywhere on the map and trying to do the same thing Alvin had done with the first one, to no avail.

Link sat on the floor next to me and told Miles to stop in a very calm tone. Miles turned to see him with wide eyes. “We can’t waste no time!”

“I think we need an extra key to let me out, right?” I commented.

“That’s what I was thinking, yeah,” Link smiled and his blue eyes went from mine to my wrist.

“It’s not hurting, no.”

“That’s good,” he smiled again.

“So where’s that extra key?” Miles asked him, his forehead already sweaty.

Link lifted his eyebrows and I panicked. “How am I supposed to know that?”

Miles inhaled sharply through his nose and kept his stare on Link’s, who didn’t look away. If there was a particularly wrong time to reach out and touch Link’s arm to try and calm him down, this was it. I stayed in place (as if I had a choice to do otherwise) and thought of something to say.

“Second map should lead to the key to open the second box, but there’s nothing on the map itself, or behind it.”

“Nothing,” said Miles and crossed his arms in front of him.

Link got on his feet and puffed his chest out a bit. “The second box says ‘Not me’, so…”

“That’s easy,” said Miles.

“Then tell us,” said Link. I threw him a look and looked back to Miles, hopeful.

“We have to skip box 2,” he said, confident.

Link shook his head. “No, it wouldn’t be just that.”

“Then what do you suggest?!”

“Miles, please…” I started.

“Don’t know if you noticed, but _my girlfriend_ is handcuffed to the floor.”

The corner of Link’s mouth lifted faintly. “I noticed her.” He then addressed me: “Hey.”

I rolled my eyes. I could feel Miles inner rage emanating from his body; he despised Link already.

“So what is your guess, _Charles_?”

Link’s jaw tensed and my eyes opened wide as saucers. _He knew_ , after all.

_Think. Think. Think._

“WHAT ABOUT…?” Both men jumped. “’ _Not me_ ’ as in… Taking the ‘ _m_ ’ and the ‘ _e_ ’ out.”

I looked to a side and thought about my own words. That had actually made some sense.

Link snapped his fingers. “Perfect, so…”

I directed my words at Miles in an attempt to cool him down too. “So, _America_ …”

Miles sighed. “Arica? That’s not an object, is it?”

“It’s a city,” Link and I said in unison. This didn’t help Miles’ mood at all.

“In Chile,” Link continued. “We talked about it on the show not long ago…” He informed with pride as he walked to the map and adjusted his glasses. “Here!”

He pressed his finger to the point where he read the name and the loud noise was heard again. The roof stopped and both men looked at each other.

“So where’s the fucking key?” said Miles.

“It’s open! Look!” I pointed at the second box with excitement. The lid was open just a few inches. I opened it completely with my free hand and we saw a new note, with it came a bottle with a picture inside.

Miles took the note in his hands before I could even reach it and read out loud: “ _Congratulations on making it this far. To open the final box you will need no clues, no keys, but your intellect. There’s a screen beneath the box…_ “ Link quickly turned it around to reveal a small screen and a keypad. Miles continued: “ _Type your answer in before the walls reach the red line or the speed will double_.”

He looked at me.

“Is that it?” Again, Link and I spoke at the same time. The curly-haired guy sighed.

“That’s it, people. That’s all it says.” We then brought our attention to the picture inside the bottle; it was a calendar.

Link pursed his lips and spoke slowly. “The roof is not moving yet so something must trigger it.” He looked around. “There’s the red line.” I hadn’t noticed it until then, but a red stripe ran horizontally in the middle of every wall.

‘ _Poke me_ ’, read the small letters below the box number. I flipped the whole thing around again and pressed a random letter on the keypad, making the screen turn blue. The siren went off again, the whole space where the shelves were disappeared inside the wall and we were back at it. Link was crouched down next to me once more in a matter of a second, and signaled me to shift my eyes back to the box.

A question was now written on the screen:

“ _How many seconds are there in a year?_ ” I read. “You gotta be shitting me.”

“And I thought they had made us leave our phones outside just so we didn’t call anyone,” added Miles. “Well,” he addressed Link with the same dead stare. “You’re the Engineer here, get us out.”

The brunet narrowed his eyes.

I interjected: “How can we know for sure?”

“Hmm, and what if we enter a wrong answer and the walls speed up or something?” added Link.

“That’s why you gotta get it right,” Miles smiled mischievously.

“I’m an Engineer but I’d like to believe you finished school, right? _Didn’ey_ teach you Math?”

Link Neal snapping on someone like that made my mouth gape in what I thought would be a very funny way. The man I so far knew hated conflict was now chasing it, and I detected a faint smile on his lips. He somehow wanted this.

Miles wasted no time and replied: “Are you scared you won’t be able to? Wasted so much time doing your little show that you forgot how to use your degree?”

“ _MILES!_ ”

He looked like he had been slapped across the face. “You’re not seriously defending him!”

“I’m not! But… that was uncalled for. _Please_ , just… Let’s finish this already.”

Link remained mysteriously silent. My boyfriend nodded slowly and started mumbling: “So, if we take out leap years, let’s say a normal year has three hundred and sixty five days, right?”

I cleared my throat. “Correct. A day has twenty four hours, and an hour, sixty minutes. A minute is sixty seconds long…”

The glassesed man took a deep breath. “You would need to multiply all those to get it,” he said in a very low voice.

“Wish we had taken a pen from the shelves…” I said.

Miles looked up and closed his eyes. “So three hundred and sixty five times twenty four, times sixty, times… sixty, right?”

“Right.”

“We’re screwed,” he declared.

The roof was about to get to the red line and I started to feel anxious.

“Link?” I said.

“No, we’re not, come on,” the brunet said calmly. Miles and I looked at each other. He entered the numbers _1_ and _2_ and waited, looking up with a smile.

The walls stopped again and we cheered. Miles cursed loudly and laughed out loud, and Link just smirked in response; he wasn’t going to tell him how he had worked it out.

The third box was now open. As expected, a final note was waiting at the bottom. I took it and read for everyone.

“' _I believe you still need one key to get out.'_ No, I mean, I’m having a great time and I never want to leave…”

Both Link and Miles called my name.

“Okay, okay. _'Two’s company, three’s a crowd. Go through the duct and find the final key. Come back before everyone else is flattened.'_ ”

I looked up at the two men. The siren again. A small opening was suddenly revealed at the very low of the wall with the exit door. No one really had any time to react before the roof hit the red stripe and the speed, indeed, doubled. Much to our joy.

“Amazing,” I muttered.

Miles seemed to be having an inner fight, while Link just stood there, looking down at me.

“If I go and don’t come back in time…” Miles started.

“I think if you both go, I’ll be the only real loser here.” I grinned and continued: “The rules just said to go, didn’t say how many of you.”

“It said that two’s company; two people must stay here.”

Link, yet again, remained silent.

“It wasn’t really _that_ direct. Go now! You won’t make it in time before the roof hits us. I doubt it’s just five meters until you reach the key. Use this as an opportunity to escape and let me know what it’s like on the other side.” Miles shook his head and looked at me in disbelief.

As the roof started to reach Link’s head, the two men crouched down. Miles gave me a flashing but fierce kiss on the lips and then rapidly but awkwardly made his way into the duct.

“LINK, IT’S YOUR TURN.” I informed him.

“Uhh, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“ _LINK NEAL,_ ” I bellowed.

The duct closed after Miles’ feet were out of the room and we were able to hear him shout a few profanities from the other side.

“The demo video we watched on those screens before we entered?” He started. “They showed a guy entering a duct that closed just after he was inside,” he smirked and he looked not much older than twenty five.

The roof slowed down to a complete halt at that point and I looked up. It was now only less than two meters from us. We could only hear the other’s shallow breathing as we waited for further instructions, but we didn’t seem to be getting any.

“Okay, so what happens now, smarty-pants?”

“I dunno.”

“Great.”

“Yeah…”

He sat with his legs bent in front of him and stared at me vacantly.

“So, twelve seconds in a year?” I started.

He threw his head backwards and rolled his eyes, exasperated. “Thought you had worked it out, girl!”

“Right, okay, let me think… Twelve. Like the months… Each month has… a second… day. Oh, come on.”

“There you go.” He beamed. “Wasn’t that _easay_?”

“It wasn’t in the heat of the moment.”

“I guess not… You probably _do_ need an Engineering degree for that after all.”

“What a cocky douche you are sometimes.”

“Thanks,” he said, smiling.

“Wasn’t a compliment.”

“You sure?”

“Does my boyfriend have a way out?” Link made a face at my brutal change of subject. “Or is he stuck in that duct until we can finish this? In that case, I’d like to leave now.”

“He sure has a way out,” he reassured me calmly, looking down and toying with his shoelaces.

“Good, then.” I exhaled with frustration. “Is this a patience test or what?”

“Apparently,” he said, rolling his eyes again.

“Oh, sorry, Sir, are you bothered by my person now? You should’ve just left first. At least I could be kissing someone right now.”

He frowned and nodded. “Yeah. Me too.”

We had an involuntary staring contest during the long seconds it took a creepy voice in the speakers to sound and startle us both.

“ _You have three minutes to answer the question and get the key. Once you’re free, you’ll be able to exit through the main door._ ”

“’Do you wanna play a game?’” I said sarcastically.

“That sounds like a movie line I should know, but I don’t,” Link shrugged.

I shook my head. “So what’s the question?”

The siren went off one last time and Link acted quickly. He ran up to the third map and I understood. He was able to take it out from the wall before the roof started to cover the rest of the maps from our sight and brought it to where I was.

We turned the map around and noticed a small safe on the back with three lines of numbers for us to turn.

“AND WHAT IS THE FREAKING QUESTION?!” Link shouted as I turned it back around.

“This one has words in it, look!” I said and pointed to several cities named words like ‘WHAT and ‘THE’.

We mumbled for at least half a minute until we both screamed: “WHAT IS THE SMALLEST THREE DIGIT PRIME NUMBER? THAT’S IT! SO WHAT IS IT?!”

Neither of us could contain the laughter that came next. Once we calmed down and remembered there was a roof coming at us at a moderate speed, we started entering numbers at random. We didn’t have time to really think about it. Or did we?

Every time we turned the last row of numbers and saw nothing happened, our confidence grew weaker and weaker. We started curving ourselves into human balls of misery as I said to Link: “Go, man, the dude said we’d be able to exit once we were free. You’re free.”

“Don’t start with that again. Don’t make up rules, girl. I’m stayin’ with you.”

My heart skipped a beat. “Come on, don’t be a hero now… Give the crew my love.”

“Who’s being the hero, then?” Link smiled.

The roof was almost about to force us to lie on the floor.

“Everyone still there, huh? All fifteen?”

Link smirked: “Twice that many, Dad. Now there's 99 of us!”

“I can’t believe my ears. Are you seriously quoting a movie? And _101 Dalmatians_?”

“That’s what happens when one spends a whole hour trapped with yo—“

I covered his mouth with my palm, looking intensely at him and hoping he would understand.

“No way…” he mumbled against my hand.

Now knowing that there was suddenly a chance of winning this, I entered the number with shaky fingers. We heard a click and a small opening revealed a hole with a key inside of it. Link used the key to release me from the handcuffs and the roof stopped its journey down, slowly returning back up.

WE HAD ACTUALLY WON THE THING?

As the voice on the speakers congratulated us robotically and a sort of ridiculous music started playing, Link and I cheered a loud "YEEEES!" and his hands grabbed either side of my face. We were laughing like crazy people and had the stupidest smiles on our faces. His eyes quickly shifted to my lips and went back up. Both of our smiles dropped instantly. I realized how hard my heart was beating.

The main door opened and both Alvin and Miles entered, slightly less excited than we were.

The look Link gave me as he let me go made my heart sink.

We cashed our money at the reception. It wasn’t much, but we decided to spend it on a fancy dinner out which Miles thought was best to have separately. We said our goodbyes and this time Link greeted me in a very different way. He placed a firm hand on the space between my neck and my shoulder, squeezed and then suddenly released me without saying a word. The eye contact we shared was just as intense as his grip.

I didn’t get a smooch or a hug from Alvin, whom I decided was back to being Clara. Something about it all wasn’t fun anymore.

Miles sported a worried look on his face during the whole dinner every time the conversation came to a halt. He avoided the subject of Link altogether, something I felt thankful for. With each swallow I could feel my throat closing more and more.

It wasn’t fun. It wasn’t a game once reality hit you in the face like a rock and you suddenly remembered you were dealing with actual human beings with feelings. Feelings that were starting to get hurt.

My boyfriend dropped me at my flat around eleven, a little earlier than usual, and gave me a kiss on the lips. It was sloppy, wet and desperate.

I didn’t feel strong enough to kiss him back, so I simply caressed his back and wished very strongly he didn’t care for me the way he did. If he loved me, in that moment I wished he didn’t. Because I didn’t know if I could return those feelings. And the fact that this thought hit me as I kissed him made me feel like a piece of shit. I nonetheless waited for him to finish so as not to make things worse for him.

Once he was done and we separated, he said the words.

And they hurt.

_I’m sorry._

_I’m so sorry._

He repeated them and I shook my head. I couldn’t lie.

_Don’t make me lie._

I gathered enough strength to smile at him and hoped with all my heart he would take my silence as a sign of me being emotional about it. I was. But not for the reasons he probably thought.

He smiled back and wished me good night with another kiss, this time small and gentle.

I kissed him back.

There were tears in my eyes as soon as I closed the door behind me. I let myself sink in; I deserved it.

I let the hot water run through my body for long minutes. After what seemed like an hour I realized that neither water nor soap would take care of the sensation of those large familiar hands on either side of my face. I understood why the tears kept coming back.

_You’re an idiot._

I wrapped myself in a towel and went straight to bed.

My phone beeped at around two am, but it didn’t wake me up. Sleeping was not an option that night. Thankfully it was only Sunday. I wasn’t really in the mood to talk to any of my friends at the moment, but I was also now decided to use any distractions I could get.

I hadn’t read that name on a notification for a while now, but it wasn’t just that what made my heart start racing.

**LINK NEAL:**   
_Can we talk?_


	19. Part 19

_**\---   “We create excuses that stand between us and other people;** _

_**excuses that separate us from the happiness and the prospects these people can present.”   ---** _

 

I made the decision of going through this one alone. I didn’t text Stevie or Steph about it, I limited myself to staring at his picture and wishing I was dreaming.

He still showed as _Online_ and now he knew I had read his message. I swallowed.

“No,” I said out loud.

_We can’t._

_We shouldn’t._

I couldn’t help but noticing the parallels. When his ex-wife had asked him to meet and talk, he’d seemed hopeful. He’d assured me he wasn’t, but to that day I found it hard to erase that look in his eyes as he told me. Was I in his position now?

“No,” I repeated.

I turned on the lamp next to me and sat on the bed. As I tugged at some loose strings on my covers, Rhett’s face came to my mind.

_It’s fucking 2 am._

_But he might be the only one to make some common sense out of all this._

_What’s his wife going to think of him getting a text from you at 2 am?_

_Right, you win. Tomorrow._

I tried falling asleep by playing some music, and after a while I managed to, but not without my dreams fucking with me again. I couldn’t rest from the thought of him and that made me angry. My lack of control was truly outstanding, and something I couldn’t bear to deal with any longer.

The first thing I did after waking up sometime around midday was see his message once again. Yup, it had been real. And he had been online until freaking five.

I used the same words he’d used with me to contact my giant newest friend.

 **RHETT MC:**  
_Sure, what’s the matter?_

I met Rhett in his front yard about two hours later. His wife was just as sweet as he would describe her on the show and I couldn’t help but wonder if Link’s ex-wife had been anything like her; for some reason I had this picture in my mind in which she was the bitchiest woman on the planet. It was highly likely she wasn’t.

“Does she know?” I asked him once she went inside and left us to it.

“You mean does my wife know about you and Link? Yes,” Rhett replied, shifting his stance as the sun was blocking his sight.

“What does she think?”

“Well,” he thought about it for a moment. “I guess she was rooting for you two, but then you left the poor guy… I know, I’m joking, I’m joking,” he said, palms in the air.

“Everyone was rooting for us but no one really knew all the… shit.”

“If by 'all the shit' you mean that he’s anxious and self-deprecating, I’ll give you that.” He made a face. “But he’s good-natured.”

“I don’t…” I tried to keep my cool. “I don’t need you to tell me, Rhett, I already know that. What we had going on wasn’t doing him any good—“. Rhett sighed a big sigh. “Anything to add to that?”

_Don’t project your anger at him._

He had a very daunting expression on his bearded face now. “We’re back to that, aren’t we?”

“I could ask you the same thing. Are you about to give me all that he-loves-you crap again?” I had lost control of my mouth at that point and Rhett seemed to notice.

“Okay, first of all, calm down.”

“Shit, Rhett.”

“Second of all, I wasn’t.” He made a pause.

I wondered why he wasn’t, then I felt annoyed for caring again.

“And third?” I wanted to know. He leaned closer and his bug eyes pierced mine.

“Why are you even dating that other guy?” he whispered.

I gaped my mouth. “How dare you ask that, dude? _'Why'_?”

“ _Why_ , yes,” he said calmly.

I was trembling. Shit.

“It’s easy,” I said in a dim voice. “It’s just easy. He likes me, I like him. No one gets hurt.”

“You sure?” I shrugged, a knot already forming in my throat. “Do you love the guy?”

“How--?”

“Just answer the question.”

“I do! Yes, of course I do!”

Rhett walked a few steps from me and leaned on the nearest tree, crossing his arms in front of him and looking down with a frown. My eyes followed him there but I felt unable to move to where he was. I should’ve seen this coming.

“I just came to seek out advice on how to handle his text message. I didn’t come here so you’d question what I feel about my boyfriend!”

“Well, I'm sorry, but I think it has a lot to do with it.” He sighed. “Let’s put it this way, okay?” He pointed a straight hand at me. “You wouldn’t be here if you didn’t care about Link’s message. You could’ve just replied with ‘ _It’s better if we don’t_ ’, ‘ _I don’t feel like talking_ ’, anything.”

“No. I needed advice because that’s not the way I want to reply. I can’t just… do that to him.”

“Can’t you? He’s a freaking adult. If you think it’s really over then there’s no need for you to dance around the idea, you can talk it through and make things clear for him, or just freaking tell him you don’t feel like talking!”

“I don’t want to do that, okay?! I don’t want to.”

Rhett smiled. I was having a hard time discerning if it was a murderous or a happy smile.

“Look… I think you’ll have a chance to decide what you want to do.”

“Mmm?”

“Eddie’s birthday is tomorrow, remember?”

“Oh, shit, no.”

“Grow a pair, come on,” he seemed exasperated but smiled nonetheless.

I suddenly had the most annoying stomachache.

 

* * *

 

 

“Good thing you’re here, I thought you would find it weird. And I couldn’t just… not invite my boss… And, well, his girlfriend…” He pointed somewhere to our right. “You can dance in this corner if you want, but you’ll be all by yourself.”

“Thanks, Eddie, I’m good as long as you don’t acknowledge it anymore, okay?”

“Okie dokie,” the birthday boy said with a lazy smile and waltzed off to grab another drink for himself.

As I spotted Link on the other side of the dancefloor I wished Miles would’ve been able to be there. The glassesed man had a tired look on his face. Clara’s arms were hooked around his neck, and she would steal small pecks from him from time to time.

Rhett somehow found me in the mass of drunk people and handed me a beer.

“Thanks,” I said. “So, wanna dance?” I half-joked.

He raised his eyebrows and smiled. “Could get in trouble.”

“Oh. Does your wife send people to watch over you wherever you go?”

Rhett laughed and leaned on the bar table. “I don’t mean with her,” he replied, taking a sip.

“Miles is not here, so…”

He came closer and knocked lightly on my head a few times.

Stevie joined us with a face that indicated she was well aware of our discussion topic.

“Wanna dance?” I repeated.

She didn’t miss a beat and grabbed both my hands as a familiar melody started.

It took me a while to recognize the song, but once I did, my stomach dropped to my feet.

**_I got this feeling inside my bones_ **

**_It goes electric, wavey when I turn it on_ **

I glanced to my right and there they were. Those blue eyes looking straight into mine, even at that long distance. Not even in her drunk state could someone like Stevie miss what was going on and she danced away from me in a smooth fashion. I couldn’t smell Rhett’s perfume anymore either.

**_All through my city, all through my home_ **

**_We're flying up, no ceiling, when we in our zone_ **

Link was wearing a long-sleeved plaid and jeans, his newest boots and sported a messy hair. His stubble was the result of two, no, three days without shaving.

**_I got that sunshine in my pocket_ **

**_Got that good soul in my feet_ **

His eyebrows were contorted in a strange expression I couldn’t remember ever seeing on his face, and he was biting the insides of his mouth.

**_I feel that hot blood in my body when it drops_ **

**_I can't take my eyes up off it, moving so phenomenally_ **

If I was smiling, I couldn’t tell or help it. What I felt inside, though, was a huge sense of longing.

**_And under the lights when everything goes_ **

**_Nowhere to hide when I'm getting you close_ **

**_When we move, well, you already know_ **

**_So just imagine, just imagine, just imagine_ **

The bottle of beer in my hands was uncomfortably cold, but my mind was too set on the man to even care.

**_Nothing I can see but you when you dance, dance, dance_ **

**_All those things I shouldn't do but you dance, dance, dance_ **

I held his gaze as Clara danced along in front of him, completely oblivious to our inner conversation.

**_And ain't nobody leaving soon, so keep dancing_ **

**_I can't stop the feeling_ **

_Yes, we can talk._


	20. Part 20

                                                              

 

At seventy feet tall, I knew _Bob's Big Boy’_ s billboard to be a landmark in the surrounding community. It climbed vertically in contrast with the horizontal lines of the diner. The sign, with its attractive pink and white neon lettering, was breathtakingly dramatic and visible from far down Riverside Drive.

Beautiful moss-green and black _terrazzo_ walkways surrounded the building and a small, low-ceiling entrance way led into the large open space of the dining room.

 

                                                              

 

The interior had apparently been remodeled several times but retained the original seating plan, with booths placed alongside the curving window wall. This allowed for a panoramic view of the garden and street.

“So, the _Big Boy_ is our original double-decker hamburger. It has two all-beef patties, grilled sesame seed bun with crisp shredded lettuce, American cheese, dressing, special relish,” listed the big-eyed young waitress showing way too many teeth.

“I’ll just have a coffee, thank you,” said Link, looking down at his own hands. He was wearing a sweatshirt with a psychedelic wolf face on it, and a black scarf.

The girl seemed disappointed.

“Okay, and for you?” she addressed me in a drier tone. I immediately understood her motives.

“Umm, a chocolate coke,” I saw Link make a face out of the corner of my eye.

“Alright…” she muttered and raised one eyebrow, as if one of the place’s most special and distinctive beverages was somehow a pathetic choice.

“Thank you,” I said anyway.

Once she left, I set my eyes back on him and he was still wearing the same expression.

I sighed.

“I wanted to order something she couldn’t spit on,” I declared, rolling my eyes.

Link smiled lightly.

“Former high school archenemy?”

“She’s clearly under twenty,” I pointed out. “No. She wants to bang you.”

He raised his eyebrows. I half-expected him to turn around and check her out, which would’ve given him more blatant clues as she was now a few tables away looking intensely at us, but he didn’t. Instead, he propped his cheek on a fist and looked mildly unimpressed. “Really?”

“Yup.”

“How can you tell?”

“The way she stared at your lips the whole time you spoke, the fact that was standing just inches away from you while taking our orders… And you didn’t see her check you out as we walked past her to pick our seats.”

“I didn’t,” he said still smiling, and that’s all he gave me.

I looked down and back up. It felt strange to find ourselves in this setting again; facing each other on a tiny table. Only this time our legs didn’t touch under it. Life was weird.

“Um… did you know The Beatles dined here in sixty-five? It was during their US Summer Tour.”

“Seriously?” he said.

“Yup, um… They were at that table over there, last booth on the right.” I pointed a finger behind him and waited with an awkward smile on my face, but he didn’t move this time either.

“How do you know? Were you there?”

I snorted. “Yeah.”

“That’s amazing,” he said, examining my face with that light smile still on.

“There’s a plaque I read as we entered,” I explained. “It’s been stolen many times by fans and replaced each time.” I took a deep breath. “It’s very common that people come and request to sit on that booth. _The Beatles Booth_ , they call it. I wish we could’ve sat there but I guess there’s always people.” Link’s head was still resting on his fist. He simply offered a hum in return this time and I frowned. “You drifted off, didn’t you?”

“No, I heard you.”

“Really? So what did I say?” I challenged him, adjusting myself on my chair.

He sighed as our coffee and Coke were brought to us and the waitress gave Link another dazed look. She was truly mesmerized by him, but his whole attention was apparently mine.

“Thanks,” I told her as she walked away, but got no response. I didn’t expect one, anyway.

“ _The Beatles Booth_ ,” Link started, a playful cocky smile on his lips. “Named after the _Fab 4_ dined here in ninety sixty-five during their American tour.” He looked up as he listed. “There’s a plaque to commemorate it, which has been stolen many times by fans and replaced. The booth was occupied when we entered, something that upsets you (with reason). And…” He made a pause and then, with a smooth tone he finished: “It’s the last one on the right,” he pointed his thumb back over his shoulder.

I couldn’t help the big smile I felt on my lips.

“I won’t applaud you or anything, you know,” I said as I took a sip and looked away. “This is so weird but I love it.”

“Didn’t ask for applause.” He shrugged. “And yes, it’s weird but delicious.”

“Are you drinking your coffee or…?”

He looked down at his cup as if he had just realized it was finally there. “Yeah.”

I could feel the heat on my face already. “So… How have you been?”

He took a few sips before answering calmly. “Good, I guess. ‘Bout to launch a book so that’s pretty exciting. We’ll be on Fallon again this Tuesday.”

“Ah, yes! Rhett told me about it. You’re going big, I tell ya. I’m so proud of you… guys.” He smiled, showing his teeth and his cheeks puffed, a shade of red on them.

He looked adorable.

_Shit._

Link noticed my mood had shifted so for the first time he attempted to pedal forwards. “Yeah, I’m pretty excited, you know?” To see his happiness made me feel happy myself. I wondered how much time apart it would take to break that connection.

I decided it was childish to hide it from him so I let my most sincere smile show. He mirrored me and soon his expression turned gloomy.

“I miss you,” he declared.

_Fuck._

I couldn’t reply to that. I didn’t even know how. Or what it meant.

“Link…” I started and he awaited avidly. But I had nothing.

He leaned on the table and repeated: “ _I miss you_.” His voice was dim but firm. His hands were shaking a bit but his blue eyes were determined. I sighed.

“I…”

“You don’t have to say anything, it’s fine. I just miss… talking to you, I guess.” He shrugged.

“We can still do it. Friends are allowed go out to a diner and catch up, aren’t they?”

_Self-boycott mode: on._

Link blinked rapidly a couple of times. “Yeah…”

“So how’s Clara?”

He exhaled and curved his lips into a grin. “Healthy.”

“Great. How’s her channel going?”

“Um… She’s doing well, I guess.” I lifted an eyebrow. He cleared his throat. “I mean, we don’t talk about that much.”

“I see.”

“She, umm… We had her on the show; she did my make-up.”

I pulled my most believable impressed face. “And how is the audience behaving about it?”

He looked down.

I had made Stevie and Rhett promise they wouldn’t tell me anything, and Tumblr was not something I did every night anymore, so I was in the dark about any news.

I wondered what laid behind that shy demeanor he was now giving me.

“Do people still complain about changes in format and stuff?” I asked, and resumed sipping at my Coke.

He seemed thankful for the change of subject. “They’ll never stop complaining. But hey, there’s learning in criticism.”

“Sure!” I gave him a mocking face and he got my meaning.

“How deep was that, huh?” He too remembered his beverage and gulped it empty in seconds.

“I understand. Everyone’s a poet when they’re in love, Link.”

There was silence, and then Link’s velvety voice. “Are you?”

“Me? Well, I’m not Emily Dickinson, but from time to time I can come up with—”

“In love, I mean.”

He had me trapped. He searched for the answer in my eyes, and I wondered if he would find it by just observing. My lips trembled and I felt naked.

I assessed the man in front of me with care. In a corny flashing split of second, I looked back to where our eyes first met. Simply that encounter, in which we were strangers and meant nothing to one another. I jumped back to where we were now. _What_ we were now. What looking into those eyes meant for me compared to back a year before. The sound of his voice felt like that freaking alarm music that woke you up as a child, which you can’t hate because now it reminds you of home. His laughter was still the most beautiful thing I’d heard, and he had many of them. I liked them all. Seeing him talk enthusiastically about a new adventure he and his best friend had shared remained my favorite memory of him. How he would carefully listen to anything I said, regardless of his mood. He claimed to have a shitty memory and yet he could recite some of the things I’d said to him over time verbatim. I knew I could too. Link had managed to become all that in a matter of months. That depressed man whom I just wanted to cheer up had turned into the most special person in my life.

I missed him too. Terribly. I couldn’t erase him; his mark was forever set onto my weak heart.

“I am,” I finally said. My eyes quickly shifted to his full heart-shaped lips. “ _Yes_ , I am.”

Link looked defeated. I knew what he had understood but I couldn’t correct him. The sky roared as the rain started to pour outside and some people stared out the window in awe; rain was not common currency in Los Angeles. The glassesed man in front of me moved away and leaned back on his chair. Slowly he nodded and ran a hand through his hair.

I didn’t know what was happening. I didn’t know how this could continue. All I was sure of was I didn’t have an umbrella with me and I was going to be soaking wet in just a few minutes. Link signaled the waitress for the bill.

“You were right,” he said in a thin voice once he read it.

“What do you mean?” I asked, still a bit confused.

He limited himself to showing me the piece of paper and it took me a few seconds to notice the handwritten phone number at the very bottom.

“Told you,” I smiled faintly.

Link’s mood didn’t get any better when I insisted too much on paying for my own three-dollar Coke. We left the place in silence and after a couple seconds I realized I was following him into the parking space, too caught up in my own thoughts.

Was he planning to take me home, even after that? We were both soaking wet when we got to his car, so what was the point?

“Link,” I had to almost scream as the sound of rain filled the air completely. “It’s okay, I’ll take a bus home. Can’t get in your car like this!”

He turned to see me with squinty eyes. He took his glasses off and slid them inside his back pocket. “That’s ridiculous,” he also shouted. “Get inside, come on.”

He started to fumble for his keys as I continued: “The nearest bus stop is only one block away, you don’t have to drive all the way to my flat! Don’t worry about me.” Link’s keys fell from his hands and he let out a profanity or two.

I tried to bend and get them for him, but he moved quicker. Just like he’d done a couple of days before, he grabbed both sides of my face, this time with more strength. I only had time to stare into his blue eyes in shock before he crashed his lips against mine.

The powerful storm that surrounded us couldn’t match the passion with which Link was kissing me. Once the initial shock was over, my eyes instinctively closed and my shaky fingers hesitantly moved along his scarf. My lips, though, were almost frozen.

My lack of response only caused Link’s urge to increase to dangerous levels as his teeth joined in, buckets of water running down our faces.

God knew I wanted to kiss him back, but Miles’ devastated face appeared on my mind. I used my hands to push the tall guy away from me, desperate.

Link looked down at me with wide eyes, even despite the rain. “ _Please_ ,” I managed to hear him whisper.

“I can’t, I’m sorry, I can’t,” I whimpered. “I’m sorry, shit, I’m sorry, Link.”

He leaned over me and those blue eyes pierced mine. “ _I love you_.”

I closed my eyes and shook my head. “ _No_.”

“ _Please_ ,” he repeated, his chest raising and falling rapidly.

“No! You have someone, I have someone. Miles loves me and I love him. _I love him, Link_.”

I could tell the words had hurt him. His face contorted in a way I’d only seen once before. Long ago. That day I had promised myself to never see him like that again and I had failed. He sobbed and covered his eyes with one hand. My heart was hurting.

I loved him too, deeply and with all my heart, but saying it meant we would have to deal with the consequences, and I was a chicken. So I just let him cry out loud as my own tears mixed with the rain and got lost in their way down my cheeks. I couldn’t mend things, he was broken.

I knew he could hear me cry too, so he knew I cared about him, and that must’ve made him feel powerless.

None of the phrases I started in my mind made any sense, so I said nothing. I couldn’t leave him either.

He suddenly wiped his face, combed his hair off his forehead with his fingers and picked up the keys which laid forgotten on the floor. I saw him drive away as I continued weeping, sobbing louder than I could remember ever doing as I wondered if I would ever talk to him again.


	21. Part 21

After two days, the rain didn’t cease. If anything, it became heavier. Even after the official announcement that this was a week-long matter, people still ran for cover on the streets.

I had an umbrella with me, a big one at that, and as the streets became more monotonous and people stopped passing me by, I could concentrate fully on my thoughts. I wished rain would wash me away. It felt like my only friend at the moment, one who didn’t need reasons. Only my red eyes could give away the fact that I still cried; how pathetic.

_You made this happen, now you deal with it._

The wind, though, was a company I didn’t particularly enjoy or need. It sent the drops in every direction but straight down, and soon my umbrella seemed like a worthless aid. I quickened my pace.

Phoenix Entertainment was no longer a place to escape and hide from my problems, but a haunted house in which I had to face demons in the form of a boyfriend I would kiss without loving.

_How dare you?_

Miles’ curls were intact despite the rain, his clothes also immaculate, but his lips were struggling to form a smile as he greeted me with a tight hug.

In my mind, somehow he knew. I had a weird sensation he knew about what had taken place at the diner, and so I anxiously waited all afternoon for him to finally come and make me pick up my belongings. But that was ridiculous. He didn’t even need to know about that to sense something was not okay.

“What is that?” asked a blonde girl as she approached me sometime around four. I came out of my slumber and acknowledged the light object I was holding.

“Um, it’s called a _Mythical Beast patch_? You know, _Good Mythical Morning_?”

“Yeah, I remember you worked for Rhett and Link before, but I didn’t know what that was,” she clarified. “You’ve been staring at that all day so I was beginning to wonder if it had some sort of magical power or something.”

I snorted. “It doesn’t. Well, I don’t think so.”

“You miss it there? Don’t worry, I won’t tell Miles,” she winked.

“Nothing to tell him, I’m just…” What was I doing, though? Reprinting a copy with my thoughts?

“I won’t tell Miles,” she repeated and walked away. I held my head in my hands.

“You okay?” My boyfriend appeared out of thin air and I jumped sky high.

“Yes, just… Not able to do anything productive today, I guess.”

“Need any help?” he offered, moving closer and clasping my shoulders.

I still had the patch in my hand. He glanced at it for a few moments and took it, frowning.

“Look,” I started, not really knowing what I would say, but he bit the insides of his cheeks and signaled for me to remain quiet.

“We need to talk, baby.”

_Not this again._

“I can explain myself.”

“I don’t think you need to.” His lips curved into a smile, but his eyes didn’t join in. My heart started to race. I wanted to explain, bit by bit, why I still chose him. But were my reasons fair to him? They probably weren’t fair to any party. I let him talk. “I don’t think there’s really any way around this,” he concluded in a whisper.

“Is that all? No shouting, no accusations, no nothing?”

“I wouldn’t shout at you,” he laughed sarcastically and I made a face. “That’s probably the reason we never communicated well, I… If we had talked things through, we wouldn’t be here now.”

“What do you mean?”

“I didn’t listen, and I never asked why.” He said my name. “I’m not making you happy, I can tell.”

I stood up from my seat and faced him, angry.

“Don’t make things easy for me, Miles, don’t you care about us?”

He looked like he had been slapped in the face. “What do you think is the answer to that?”

“You’re trying to be the adult, the magnanimous guy who decides all by himself that it’s over. I’m here trying to talk it through but you won’t let me, you just enjoy making me seem like the bitch here, huh?”

“Are you listening to yourself? I’m just trying to be _logical_!” A black guy named John entered the room in a running fashion, but left very confused after Miles signaled everything was alright. Of course it wasn’t.

“And the logical thing is to end our relationship by doing all the talking? I don’t get to have a say in it.”

“You are saying ENOUGH with your actions,” he simply said, proud of his own words.

I didn’t want him to be right, but once again I felt I deserved every bit of pain for acting like an emo teenager. The conclusion of this was uncertain to me.

“He has a girlfriend,” I started. Using his name seemed wrong. Miles gave me that horrible laugh again.

“And I wish that poor girl is quick enough to do the same thing I’m doing.”

Silence.

“Are you ending this?”

“Were you never going to? Tell me the truth. How long were you going to stand being with someone you don’t love?”

“Miles…”

“Please answer.”

I blinked.

_He’s waiting for you to deny it. You didn’t._

“Yes, I’m ending us,” he turned around and started walking. I ran after him and grabbed his arm. He didn’t fight and he faced me again, his eyes soft.

I wanted him to shout at me, I wanted him to curse Link’s name, to call me a bitch… I wanted him to fight for me.

_What a bitch._

“Yes?” he said. I couldn’t even say anything. So I said sorry. “Don’t be sorry for me; that only makes it worse.” He was right. Everyone was right but me.

I let go of his arm and he gave me sad eyes, they looked wounded and final.

The _Mythical patch_ was squeezed in my right hand. I used it to smash my forehead a couple times as that familiar knot in my throat started to form. I only knew how to hurt people. It was me who needed to change in order to be with someone.

 

* * *

 

I feared I would hate rain from then on. On the news, they called it _'The Big LA Shower of 2017'_ , and my egocentric self started to wonder whether I had anything to do with it.

I left my job for the second time in a few months and the self-deprecating feelings came back. _'Never again date someone from work'_ , I kept repeating myself.

_Never again date someone, period._

_Much more like it._

I visited my mom back at home and for a moment, while she left to put the kettle on, I wished that would be my life. An eternal teen who didn’t have to care about anything other than passing her exams and eating properly. No work, no relationships, no stress. No more rain.

I hadn’t spoken with Rhett since the diner incident, and something inside of me realized he was his best friend after all. He would have to be on his side. But were there sides at all? We never really argued about anything other than what we thought the other felt. I turned out being wrong about him the same way he had been wrong about me. We loved each other. We didn’t see it at the time, we never said it. And we assumed things. How wrong we were.

Every time my phone beeped I felt anxious. It could really be anyone. But Jessie’s name was honestly the last I expected to read on my screen.

 **RHETT MC:**  
_Hey, this is Jessie. Rhett says you probably won’t reply to him but we’d love to have you over at our anniversary party ;)_

Who? What? Where?

 **ME:**  
_Hey Jessie, I’m at my mom’s atm. I’m sorry. Thanks for the invitation and have a lovely evening! Happy anniversary!_

 **RHETT MC:**  
_Oh no, hun, it’s next Saturday. Will you be back by then?_

I bit my lower lip. Did all this mean seeing him? Why would Rhett do this to us? To him.

My mom was staring at me with an inquisitive look. My hands were sweating.

 **ME:**  
_I will!_

You won’t lose anything by just trying. Ask the question.

 **ME:**  
_Sorry for asking but who else is going?_

Her reply took longer than I was able to bear waiting. I hid the phone beneath my leg on the armchair and breathed hard.

_Beep._

**RHETT MC:**  
_Just a couple of friends of ours ;)_

Not enough information.

She knew about us so what the hell.

 **ME:**  
_I don’t feel comfortable seeing him yet. And I doubt he is either. I’m sorry._

 **RHETT MC:**  
_He’s not coming._

My stomach dropped to my feet. I sent the next message without even thinking.

 **ME:**  
_Is he okay?_

 **RHETT MC:**  
_He needs some time, love. He’ll be fine._

Again, not enough. I cracked my knuckles as my mom sipped her tea quietly.

 **RHETT MC:**  
_It’s a dress and suit type situation so I hope you have something to wear._  
_I’ll send out the invitation by email. No RSVP needed._

I instantly knew that was Rhett. I smiled.

 **ME:**  
_Yeah, I do, don’t worry. Thanks, guys. See you then._  


“So?” my mom asked once I brought my attention back to her.

“So, I need to buy a dress.”


	22. Part 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lyrics by Jon Walker, Ryan Ross and Passenger.

_**\---   Love is to love someone for who they are, who they were, and who they will be.   ---** _

 

_**** _

 

 _Vibrato_ was that type of restaurant you only saw in movies during romantic climaxes. The dim lighting and red tones fit the mood perfectly.

‘ _Where great music meets great food_ ’, read the sign at the entrance. Both things made me a happy girl so that made up for the fact that my shoes were already starting to hurt my feet.

Jessie McLaughlin came to meet me with open arms. She looked stunning. Her black long hair fell on one shoulder, matching her long red dress perfectly, all that plus her carefully applied make-up made her seem like a pro model. I wished I was that pretty.

“I really like your dress, you look lovely!” she said. And oh gosh, was her Carolina accent the strongest I’d ever heard.

“Thank you,” I replied, shyness getting the best of me. “I literally only own blue dresses.”

“Hey!” said a familiar voice behind Jessie. A man more than a head taller than her came to hug me, smiling big. I could only imagine what Steph’s reaction would be if she laid eyes on the sharp man in front of me.

“Happy anniversary, guys,” I said, intimidated by the two Greek gods.

“You have a minute?” Rhett asked me at the time Jessie went to meet an old couple that had just arrived.

“It’s not like I have much to do anyway, right?” I replied, somewhat thankful he hadn’t used the words ‘Can we talk?’

The bearded blond guided me back outside, where the rain still poured violently and the thunders roared as if claiming our land as theirs for years to come. Poetic enough?

I played with my hair distractingly and Rhett demanded my attention.

“He left her,” he simply said. My eyes almost popped out of their sockets.

“ _What?!_ ”

“What you heard.”

“What? When? W-why?”

He closed his eyes and signaled me to calm down.

“I’m not supposed to say anything, but you’ll get enough information by watching _MakeUpQueen_ ’s latest video. She made a vlog about it.”

“Oh, no.”

I felt anxious as I hadn’t in a while. The air around me wasn’t enough. This couldn’t be happening.

“She um… They were not doing great lately, but apparently she wasn’t expecting it, so she… Kinda lashed out at him, at us. She told everyone to unsubscribe from our channel and um… Sent Link to a happy place to do um, pleasurable things to himself. Basically.”

“I’m sorry, Rhett.”

“As it turns out,” he started, shifting his stance and sliding his hands into his pockets, “not everything is your fault. He should’ve never dated her. Same way you—”

“Don’t do this, I don’t need this now.”

“Right. So what are you going to do?”

“It’s done, he did it for me,” I smiled sarcastically. He seemed annoyingly unsurprised.

“How are you?” he wanted to know. I shook my head.

“Cried enough already, I’m fine.”

He frowned his thick eyebrows and pursed his lips. “You cried because...?”

“Good gosh, man, you’re the coldest little shit.”

Rhett leaned forward and let out a flamboyant laugh.

“I’m sorry, I’m just trying to understand!” he defended himself with lazy eyes and a big smile, which he slowly dropped. “Question still stands.”

“Which one of all?”

“What are you going to do?”

I ordered a steak and white wine and took a good look at everyone else at my table. It took me longer than acceptable to realize no one from the Mythical Crew was there. I felt special, and then distrustful.

Why was I suddenly so special? Did they pity me? Was Jessie planning for me to become her new best friend? Why wasn’t Link’s ex-wife there either? The steak had been delicious, though. And the music, just the way I liked it in a place like that, loud enough to enjoy it and lose yourself in it but not so much as to disturb a normal conversation. By the time my dessert was also finished, I decided I liked jazz.

Rhett came to sit beside me after the lady next to me got up and left to the restroom, and he gave me his most sincere smile, which I returned. The jazz band played their last notes once again, but not only they didn’t start a new song right away, they said their thanks and left the stage and the lights that were on them went out.

“I guess they have to eat too,” I told Rhett. He didn’t reply. I locked eyes with Jessie and her cryptic grin put me in an anxious mood again. “Rhett?”

Suddenly, the lights hit the stage again and I saw a sharp-dressed man in the center, guitar in hand.

_Link._

His shaky voice resounded in the crowded room: “Hey, umm…” His eyes searched the crowd for a few seconds; I looked down. “This is a little… something that I wrote and umm… I hope I can sign it okay since I pretty much suck at playing guitar.” He snorted awkwardly and the crowd laughed with him. “Thanks Rhett for helping me out with the chords and umm, happy anniversary, brother.”

I didn’t have the guts to look back up, but when I felt a light touch on my arm I finally did it with a heavy sigh. Rhett signaled to the stage with his head and gave me a reassuring smile.

Link played his first chords and that was enough to get me hooked. But it wasn’t until he opened his mouth and started singing that my heart started its usual race, a feeling only he could give me.

 

_**Never has no one not needed some help** _

_**Why don’t we see what we do to ourselves?** _

_**So much to hide we are buried alive** _

_**While swallowing down with a false sense of pride** _

 

_**You, you were right** _

_**I was wrong** _

_**Like I always am** _

_**And you always are** _

 

_**If I knew what you are thinking** _

_**I would stop this boat from sinking** _

_**Sometimes words don’t say enough** _

_**Sometimes silence says too much** _

 

_**You, you were right** _

_**I was wrong** _

_**Like I always am** _

_**And you always are** _

  
It wasn’t until I felt the warm tears on my cheeks that I understood who he was singing to. He didn’t look up, too concentrated on hitting the right chords, but that was probably for the best. I sniffed and wiped my tears, making the guests closest to me turn to see me.

I didn’t deserve all this, _him_. But he did deserve to know how I felt. As I heard his velvety voice sing, I made up my mind.

 

**_Darling, you are like the stars_ **

**_I know I can’t reach that far_ **

**_Darling, you are like the sand_ **

**_And you’re slipping through my hands_ **

 

His fingers slowed down until the music came to a halt and he sang the last bits.

 

_**Only knew I loved you when I let you go** _

_**Give me one last chance, I’ll be your man** _

 

There was one last chord and he looked up. A beautiful and pure smile appeared on his stubbly face as everyone cheered.

“Still don’t know what to do?” Rhett asked me as soon as he noticed my tears.

Link thanked his little audience and left the stage in a matter of seconds. Normally I would’ve prayed my shoes would take me to him without getting a permanent injury, but at that moment I could only think of my final goal.

I reached the back of the stage, but I couldn’t find him anywhere. I went back to the main room and feared he was gone, but soon my eyes spotted him leaning at the bar. More dramatic running and finally, I reached him.

_What now?_

I coughed awkwardly and he turned around.

_What now?!_

What was that face? Was he surprised to see me there? What if the song wasn’t even for me?

“You look great,” he said, flashing his teeth in a dashing smile.

“Thanks, so do you,” I replied. My cheeks were burning.

“Thanks, girl,” he said going back to his shy self, scratching the back of his head and looking down. “I, um…”

“You did great up there. If you hadn’t warned everyone you couldn’t play the guitar, I’m sure you could’ve tricked them into thinking you were a famous country singer.”

He laughed and only then I noticed his voice was a bit husky. I stared at him with knowing eyes and his laughter slowly faded.

I knew he couldn’t handle it for too long. “Um, those two last lines didn’t really rhyme but I didn’t know where else to put th—”

My hug took him by surprise. I slowly made room for my arms inside of his suit jacket and surrounded his waist with them, pressing my ear to his heart.

I closed my eyes and breathed in. “I love you.” I felt his heart racing and so was mine. “ _I love you, Link._ ”

He caressed my hair and hugged me back, resting his chin on the crown of my head. He inhaled deeply and exhaled with care. “I love you too,” he whispered in my ear. Letting go of him didn’t seem like an option to me. Luckily, he didn’t appear to be in a hurry to break the embrace either.

“You know…” I started. He hummed in response. “You _were_ wrong.”

“I know, I’m—”

“In your song, I mean. You were wrong, ‘cause you weren’t wrong.”

“Right,” he made a pause. “Please explain because I’m very confused.”

Against my will, I broke the hug and resumed talking as I straightened his black tie. “All this… was mostly me. I shouldn’t have… I acted like an idiot. I’m so sorry.”

“No,” he said, dead serious.

“Yes. Please, accept my apologies. I hurt you and I wanted you to change, when I was the one who needed to get their shit together.”

Link wanted to interject, but my eyes were adamant. He searched for my hands and interlaced his fingers with mine. “Let’s look for a table, shall we?” he suggested in a low voice.

Everyone was now standing up and chattering excitedly, unaware of our little private business. I followed him through the crowd holding his hand and I wondered if Rhett and Jessie had seen it all happen. We sat next to each other and Link asked the waiter for two Cokes. “You already had the wine and I have to drive home,” he explained. I grinned in response. I rested my head on his shoulder and held his hand again, his own head leaned on mine now. I pondered on how long it would take for me to fall asleep in this position. I felt safe and happy.

I finally spotted Rhett and Jessie, who seemed unable to contain their smiley glances in our direction.

“It may sound silly, but I’m much more me when I’m with you,” I declared moments after. Link’s head shifted on mine as he attempted to look at me. I also moved to meet his gaze and placed a soft hand on his cheek, caressing it with my thumb. I gave him the lightest and smallest of kisses.

“Me too,” he whispered against my lips.


	23. Epilogue

“ _Goooooood Mythical Morning!_ ” Link shouted with the silliest grin on his face.

“Welcome to the show…” started Rhett, they both made drumming motions and sounds with their mouths. Such idiots. Next, he said my name. It felt weird, but exciting nonetheless.

“Hello, thanks for having me,” I said, my cheeks a bit warm already.

“Now, you may know her as the brilliant front woman of _InsertChannelNameHere_ (which in my opinion is the best channel name out there), but to me she’s the kindest, most beautiful, smartest, funniest and loveliest girl on the planet.” He struggled to breathe after such a long phrase and the Crew laughed.

“Oh, _shut up_ ,” I said, unable to contain my blushing, for a change.

He laughed. “Nah, I _won't_ shut up,” he told me and he addressed his audience once more, pointing his head and a thumb at me. “I could talk for freaking _ages_ about how much I love this girl, people.”

“Believe me, he can,” said Rhett at my right. Stevie laughed the loudest this time. “And talking about inserting things into other things,” he made his signature head-tilt, “we’re gonna find out just how good we are at playing a giant puzzle as we play… _‘I Got Ninety-Nine Pieces, but a Head Ain’t One’_.”

“Nice throwback to one of our sketches, there, Rhett,” Link pointed out and threw a cheeky smile at the camera, like the title hadn’t been decided beforehand. He turned to me and asked: “You ready, girl?”

I shook my head slowly. “You’re going down, _Charles_.”

Make Link Neal smile, _checked_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaand, that's it!
> 
> Thanks a bunch for reading and please, do let me know in case of typos and stuff!
> 
> I have a one-shot I wrote as a tiny random story which is set after all this but it's just for fluffs. Let me know if you'd be interested in reading that :D
> 
> Thanks to my friends who read this first, ages ago when I wrote it. You guys know who you are <3


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